What if they had seen you

Question

John says: I slipped into their house and stole a fish bowl.

Tom replies:

1) That was stupid. What if they saw you?

2) That was stupid. What if they had seen you?

Do both '1' and ''2' work in this context?

Is there any difference in the meanings?

Gratefully,

Navi

Ivanhr · Accepted Answer

navitasan1) That was stupid. What if they saw you?

OK. This means that Tom can't verify now whether they saw John or not. (=He doesn't know whether or not they saw John)

navitasan2) That was stupid. What if they had seen you?

OK. This means that Tom now knows that they didn't see John or he thinks they didn't see John.

BTW, did you perhaps mean to use "sneak" instead of "slip"?

Anonymous · Answer

"Slip" is correct:

MW, "slip" def. 1b. "to move quietly and cautiously"

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