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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Second or third conditional after past perfect tense in the main clause?
Hi. Please help. I could be wrong, but I think the two versions of the underlined conditionals are the same for all intended purposes (at least for the purposes I can think of now). Please note that numbers go together, ie, no. 1 with another "no. 1" and no. 2 with another "no. 2." What do you thinnk? If they are different, what is the difference?
He had told me if they 1) decided/2) had decided to go ahead, he 1) would be/2) would have been upset.
He had told me if they 1) decided/2) had decided to go ahead, he 1) would be/2) would have been upset.
Top answer
-- This is about a future decision (from the time of the telling); at the time of telling, no decision had yet been made. He had told me if they had decided to go ahead, he would have been upset. - - This is about a past decision.
- -- This is about a future decision (from the time of the telling); at the time of telling, no decision had yet been made.
- He had told me if they had decided to go ahead, he would have been upset.
- - - This is about a past decision.
- At the time of telling, the decision had already been made.
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3 Answers
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He had told me if they decided to go ahead, he would be upset.-- This is about a future decision (from the time of the telling); at the time of telling, no decision had yet been made.
He had told me if they had decided to go ahead, he would have been upset.-- This is about a past decision. At the time of telling, the decision had already been made.
He had told me if they had decided to go ahead, he would have been upset.-- This is about a past decision. At the time of telling, the decision had already been made.
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Thank you very much. Would you help me with this too? What would be the difference (if there are any)?
1. They had arrived at the conclusion that if they went ahead with it, it wouldn't be right.
2. They had arrived at the conclusion that if they had gone ahead with it, it wouldn't have been right.
1. They had arrived at the conclusion that if they went ahead with it, it wouldn't be right.
2. They had arrived at the conclusion that if they had gone ahead with it, it wouldn't have been right.
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The differences are precisely the same as I have indicated for your previous two sentences respectively.
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