"would have had to...": is it possible?

Question

Hello!

Please, help me:

Is the sentence correct?

If Steven had offered to give me a lift, I wouldn’t have had to take a taxi

Or "should" would be better? (hmm... would have been better... should be better.... )

I'm a bit confused on conditionals... ;-)

Could you please help me??

Antonia

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

If ... offers, ... will have to ...
If ... offered, ... would have to ...

If ... has offered, ... will have had to ... [not used]
If ... had offered, ... would have had to ...

That is,

If ... [present], ... [future] ...
(where [future] = will + base form)
If ... [past], ... [conditional] ...
(where [conditional] = would + base form)

If ... [present perfect], ... [future perfect] ...
(where [future perfect] = will have + PP) [not used]
If ... [past perfect], ... [conditional perfect] ...
(where [conditional perfect] = would have + PP)

(PP = past participle)

The three patterns shown (omitting the one that is not used) are called the first, second, and third conditional patterns. The unused pattern is shown so you can see how the three conditionals fit into the overall structure of the English tense system.

Does that help?

CJ

(Your original sentence is correct.)

Marius Hancu · Answer

http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/conditionalintro.html

Milky · Answer

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If Steven had offered to give me a lift, I wouldn’t have had to take a taxi> It's good.

Steve didn't offer me a lift > THEREFORE > I had to take a taxi> SO> if he had offered me a lift> I THEREFORE> wouldn't have had to take a taxi.

Anonymous · Answer

I have studied the conditional, but the problem is that the sentence I wrote comes from : "I had to take a taxi" and there is nothing about in the web page you suggested.(would+have to). So maybe it is wrong...

Maybe I could say "If Steven had offered to give me a lift I shouldn't have taken a taxy" but it sounds strange...

Milky<If Steven had offered to give me a lift, I wouldn’t have had to take a taxi> It's good.

Steve didn't offer me a lift > THEREFORE > I had to take a taxi> SO> if he had offered me a lift> I THEREFORE> wouldn't have had to take a taxi.

Milky, does your answer mean the sentence I wrote is grammatically correct?

Nona the brit · Answer

As the others said, your first sentence was 100% correct.

To use 'should' would be incorrect.

Milky · Answer

<Milky, does your answer mean the sentence I wrote is grammatically correct?>

Yes. I said it was correct.

<<If Steven had offered to give me a lift, I wouldn’t have had to take a taxi> It's good.>>

MrPedantic · Answer

Anonymous
Or "should" would be better? (hmm... would have been better... should be better.... )

Hello Antonia

I wonder whether you're referring to this kind of construction:

1. What I have done I have done, because it has been play. If it had been work I shouldn't have done it. (Mark Twain, in an interview with the New York Times)

There used to be a convention, not always observed, that you should use "should" in the first person in some contexts, instead of "would", e.g.

2. I should like to book a room for three nights, please.

But most people now would say:

3. I would like to book a room for three nights, please.

So in your example, an older or pedantic speaker might conceivably say "I shouldn't have had to take a taxi"; but it would be quite unusual.

MrP

Marius Hancu · Answer

AnonymousI have studied the conditional, but the problem is that the sentence I wrote comes from : "I had to take a taxi" and there is nothing about in the web page you suggested.(would+have to).

So maybe it is wrong...

Well, on this link from that page:
http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/pastconditional.html#pastunreal
you'll find:

If they had worked harder, they would have earned more money. (Unfortunately, they were lazy and they didn't earn much.)

which, to me, seems quite similar to:

If Steven had offered to give me a lift, I wouldn’t have had to take a taxi.

MrPedantic · Answer

Marius Hancu
AnonymousI have studied the conditional, but the problem is that the sentence I wrote comes from : "I had to take a taxi" and there is nothing about in the web page you suggested.(would+have to).

So maybe it is wrong...
Well, on this link from that page:
http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/pastconditional.html#pastunreal
you'll find:

If they had worked harder, they would have earned more money. (Unfortunately, they were lazy and they didn't earn much.)

which, to me, seems quite similar to:

If Steven had offered to give me a lift, I wouldn’t have had to take a taxi.

Yes, it looks like the same structure to me too.

MrP

"would have had to...": is it possible?

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