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Pooyan Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Question on Conditionals

Hello,

Wondering if we could rewrite the following sentence:

"If Seb didn't come with us to the desert, everyone would be very disappointed. " (i.e. But Seb will come with us to the desert and that is why everyone is so happy.)

as

"If Seb wasn't coming with us to the desert, everyone would be very disappointed. "

Do they have the same meaning?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

The third conditional is needed here. If Seb hadn't come with us to the desert, everyone would have been very disappointed. or Had Seb not come with us to the desert, everyone would have been very disappointed.

— RandomGuy

  • The third conditional is needed here.
  • If Seb hadn't come with us to the desert, everyone would have been very disappointed.
  • or Had Seb not come with us to the desert, everyone would have been very disappointed.
  • Both mean that Seb's absence did not occur.
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13 Answers
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The third conditional is needed here.

If Seb hadn't come with us to the desert, everyone would have been very disappointed.

or

Had Seb not come with us to the desert, everyone would have been very disappointed.


Both mean that Seb's absence did not occur.
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but my sentence refers to the future, yours refers to the past occurrence of the event .
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Ah, I misunderstood your question. Because of your use of the past tense and would, I took it for granted that you were trying to form the third conditional.

If Seb doesn't come with us to the desert, everyone will be disappointed.
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but still your new sentence doesn't tell the audience that Seb is coming to the desert. Mine is referring to this fact that Seb is definitely coming that's why everyone is happy about it. right?
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Your examples do not make any reference to the future at all. If you mean to express that Seb is coming and therefore everyone is happy, then write that.

Everyone is happy because Seb is coming with us to the desert.

Your second example works, too, although I would use weren't.

If Seb weren't coming with us to the desert, everyone would be very disappoin
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Would you please check the very last example on this page:

http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/mixedconditional.html
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I'm surprised that web site used such an example. It sounds horribly wrong to me. Maybe someone else will join us to help.
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Aspara GusI'm surprised that web site used such an example. It sounds horribly wrong to me. Maybe someone else will join us to help.
If Seb didn't come with us to the desert, everyone would be very disappointed.

It is not horribly wrong. It is a standard hypothetical (second) conditional, Context/co-text will tell us the time reference:
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fivejedjonIt is not horribly wrong.
If Seb didn't come with us to the desert, everyone would be very disappointed.

I usually try to avoid if … didn't constructions. They often sound awkward to me.

On the linked web site, didn't come in the sentence in question is indicated to be in the future tense, which makes li
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Aspara GusOn the linked web site, didn't come in the sentence in question is indicated to be in the future tense, which makes little sense to me.
It's referring to future time, not future tense.
Aspara Gus Here every weekend makes the sentence a lot more clear to me. Am I making sense here?
Yes, but I don't rea
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