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Perfect Stranger Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

The II conditional instead of the III one?

Dear All,

Here's another sentence from a documentary on Hitler's road to power.

This myth, that if only Hitler knew about unpopular aspects of the Nazi regime, he would change them.

I'm wondering why the second conditional is used here. After all, the second one refers to the present and future possibilities while the third one expresses ideas that can't be changed anymore.

Any ideas?

Thank you
  

Top answer

You’re right. It should be had known … would have . )

— RandomGuy

  • You’re right.
  • It should be had known … would have .
  • )
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4 Answers
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You’re right. It should be had known… would have.

(It’s not a sentence, by the way.)
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but... gosh, two mistakes in one documentary made by BBC??? that's like... unbelievable
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Perhaps there's another explanation for that? Can BBC be wrong (twice) in the same documentary?
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Perfect StrangerPerhaps there's another explanation for that?
Maybe. In isolation, the fragment appears to be an error.
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