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Mitsuo23 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Was waiting for people who never showed: why no WOULD?
Hi,
The sentence below is from a book by David Sedaris. Could you explain why a would is unnecessary in the underlined part? I assume that if I rewrite that part in the present tense, it will be like: "We are waiting for the blind who will show up." So "people who would never show" seems correct to me.
While sitting there, just the two of us, waiting for blind people who never showed, I imagined how the hand might look positioned on a bedside table, if that was where he kept it.
Thank you,
M
The sentence below is from a book by David Sedaris. Could you explain why a would is unnecessary in the underlined part? I assume that if I rewrite that part in the present tense, it will be like: "We are waiting for the blind who will show up." So "people who would never show" seems correct to me.
While sitting there, just the two of us, waiting for blind people who never showed, I imagined how the hand might look positioned on a bedside table, if that was where he kept it.
Thank you,
M
Top answer
mitsuwao23 Could you explain why a would is unnecessary in the underlined part? Because it's being told from the point of view of the present, at which time the writer already knew that the blind people never showed. If he wanted to, the author could have taken the time of waiting as the reference point in the past, and then he could have written 'who would never show'.
- mitsuwao23 Could you explain why a would is unnecessary in the underlined part?
- Because it's being told from the point of view of the present, at which time the writer already knew that the blind people never showed.
- If he wanted to, the author could have taken the time of waiting as the reference point in the past, and then he could have written 'who would never show'.
- You can write it either way.
- It just depends on the writer's viewpoint within the clause he is writing.
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2 Answers
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mitsuwao23Could you explain why a would is unnecessary in the underlined part?Because it's being told from the point of view of the present, at which time the writer already knew that the blind people never showed. If he wanted to, the author could have taken the time of waiting as the reference point in the past, and then he could have written 'who would ne
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