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Henry74 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Tense Agreement
Hi everyone,
the other day I was discussing with a friend, and I was trying to make the point that when you say that it is unnecessary for you to do something, you have to first know that it is possible for you to do it; then you can say that you doesn't necessarily have to do it, or that you can choose no to do it. It would be otherwise misleading to call it unnecessary, seeing that something that is not possible is neither necessary nor unnecessary, therefore a fortiori unnecessary.
Here are a few variations in terms of tense agreement on the sentence that I eventually wrote.
a) You can call it unnecessary only when it first is possible, but you choose not to do it.
b) You can call it unnecessary only when it first was possible, but you chose not to do it
c) You can call it unnecessary only when it first would be possible, but you choose not to do it.
d) You can call it unnecessary only when it first would be possible, but you chose not to do it.
Could you please tell me which of the above are grammatical, and which one would be your preference?
Also, would it make a difference if I switched to You could call it unnecessary, especially in c) and d)?
Thank you for your help.
H.
the other day I was discussing with a friend, and I was trying to make the point that when you say that it is unnecessary for you to do something, you have to first know that it is possible for you to do it; then you can say that you doesn't necessarily have to do it, or that you can choose no to do it. It would be otherwise misleading to call it unnecessary, seeing that something that is not possible is neither necessary nor unnecessary, therefore a fortiori unnecessary.
Here are a few variations in terms of tense agreement on the sentence that I eventually wrote.
a) You can call it unnecessary only when it first is possible, but you choose not to do it.
b) You can call it unnecessary only when it first was possible, but you chose not to do it
c) You can call it unnecessary only when it first would be possible, but you choose not to do it.
d) You can call it unnecessary only when it first would be possible, but you chose not to do it.
Could you please tell me which of the above are grammatical, and which one would be your preference?
Also, would it make a difference if I switched to You could call it unnecessary, especially in c) and d)?
Thank you for your help.
H.
Top answer
I don't see the necessity for first in any of those, given the but clause. a) You can call it unnecessary only when it is possible, but you choose not to do it. b) You can call it unnecessary only when it was possible, but you chose not to do it c) You can call it unnecessary only when it would be possible, but you choose not to do it.
- I don't see the necessity for first in any of those, given the but clause.
- a) You can call it unnecessary only when it is possible, but you choose not to do it.
- b) You can call it unnecessary only when it was possible, but you chose not to do it c) You can call it unnecessary only when it would be possible, but you choose not to do it.
- d) You can call it unnecessary only when it would have been possible, but you chose not to do it.
- To my ear they are all possible (as modified), but a) is the clearest statement of the relationships.
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2 Answers
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I don't see the necessity for first in any of those, given the but clause.
a) You can call it unnecessary only when it is possible, but you choose not to do it.
b) You can call it unnecessary only when it was possible, but you chose not to do it
c) You can call it unnecessary only when it would be possible, but y
a) You can call it unnecessary only when it is possible, but you choose not to do it.
b) You can call it unnecessary only when it was possible, but you chose not to do it
c) You can call it unnecessary only when it would be possible, but y
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Thank you so much for your answer, Jim.
You are absolutely right about could. In my defense I want to say that I've been utterly confused about that sentence, ever since I had to use it. Not knowing wether c) or d) were correct, I thought that, in case you told me that in fact they weren't, switching to a past tense in the main clau
You are absolutely right about could. In my defense I want to say that I've been utterly confused about that sentence, ever since I had to use it. Not knowing wether c) or d) were correct, I thought that, in case you told me that in fact they weren't, switching to a past tense in the main clau
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