question about would have

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Hi i was wondering how to say this .What i want to express is:what would she have eaten to feel bad?(supposing that she is ill)i mean should i say it like that or what would she eat?i  mean i was wondering the other day when my friend went out to have dinner she started feeling badly and i asked to myself "what would she have eaten to feel like that"how can i express that?can i say "what would she eat"or another ex. could be ."what would he have done?".For example when a child behaves badly and the mother starts asking to herself ......what would he have done(in spanish:que habrá hecho)thanks daniel

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Hi Daniel,

I'm not sure of the situations.

If your friend ate and then felt bad in the completed past (e.g. the other day), then what would/could she have eaten? makes sense to me. What would she eat refers to a possible future or timeless event-- what would she eat if we went to a Chinese restaurant?

Your second case, however-- who is he in what would he have done ? Is he the child or another person (e.g. the father)? If it is the father, then the mother's phrase is fine, meaning what would his father have done? If he is the bad child, I think the mother would simply wonder what did he do?

Danylearning · Answer

Thanks a lot MIster .your ansewer has been helpful.in fact the HE refered to the child.So what i was trying to say is what the mother would ask to herself once she receive the news that her child did something bad.

So i thought that one could say "what would the child would have done this time" for example.

Implying like anger (the mother)once she receives the news

thanks daniel

Danylearning · Answer

anyone else ,please

Pieanne · Answer

I'd use "what can/could she have eaten?"  "What can/could the child have done?"

MrPedantic · Answer

I find the "feel bad" a bit odd. Maybe:

1. What could/can she have eaten, to make her so ill?

2. What could/can she have eaten, to make her feel so ill?

3. What could/can she have eaten, to make her feel like that?

MrP

Danylearning · Answer

thanks a lot for the replies guys,is it possible to say
"what would she have eaten,to make her feel ill'?
"what had she eaten ,to make her feel so ill"

as i stated earlier in my post

thanks

Mister Micawber · Answer

Feel bad is surely more common in colloquial AmE, MrP-- a source of the ubiquitous adolescent wordplay of feel bad / feel badly.

PS: Oh yes, and feel sick.

MrPedantic · Answer

Thank you, MM!

I hereby retract my "odd".

MrP

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