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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

What kind of conditional is this?

Numerous ancient cultures believed that one person could demonstrate mastery or authority over another by speaking his or her name. For example, it was thought that if someone learned the true name of a demon or a god, saying its name would grant that person control of the entity.

The boldfaced portion is a conditional.
I'd like to know whether it's an open conditional with backshift or a remote conditional without backshift.

And if it is a remote conditional without backshift, is it possible to have it backshifted as follows?

if someone had learned the true name of a demon or a god, saying its name would have granted that person control of the entity

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

I for one think that it's an open conditional with backshifting.

  • I for one think that it's an open conditional with backshifting.
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2 Answers
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I for one think that it's an open conditional with backshifting.
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AnonymousI'd like to know whether it's an open conditional with backshift or a remote conditional without backshift.
Open with backshift. This is pretty typical after "thought that" or "knew that".

CJ

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