Would

Question

Are these correct? If not, why? What do they mean?

1. There still would be no customers if I like went home and came back. This is how dead this place this.

2. There still would be no customers if I like go home and home back. This is how dead this place this. (I have 'would' here, is this correct? Or 'would' acts as a suggestion here? Is it a conditional?)

3. There still will be no customers if I like go home and home back. This is how dead this place this. (It sounds odd with 'will' here? Is it because I'm exaggerating? So I should use 'would' instead and make it an imaginary conditional?)

So which one should I use? I think #1 and #2 are okay. But I'm not too sure about #2, what do you think?

Thanks.

MrPedantic · Accepted Answer

Hello Jack

1. = If I went home and came back, there still wouldn't be any customers.
Type 2: fine.

2. = If I go home and come back, there still wouldn't be any customers.
This mixed 1/2 conditional uses an indicative present tense in the IF clause, to make the going home seem more vivid, and a 'would' in the main clause to show that the speaker still thinks of it as an imaginary situation.

To my ears, the mixture sounds awkward (I would use a type 1: '...there still won't be any customers'), but as we've discussed before, some native speakers seem quite comfortable with it.

3. = If I go home and come back, there still won't be any customers.
Type 1: fine. The speaker uses a type 1 here to give an impression of greater immediacy.

All 3 examples use the conditional statement structure, but only rhetorically. (The 'condition' that each one sets – 'if I go home, etc' – couldn't really be the condition of an increase in customers. Unless he's extraordinarily unpopular with the clientele.)

MrP

Jack112 · Answer

Are these correct? What do they mean?

1. I think my total cost would come to $500 if I don't buy expensive parts. (This is not a conditional right? 'would' here is a suggestion? If 'don't ' was 'didn't ' the sentence wouldn't make sense right? If I use 'didn't' , I'm saying that I have already bought the parts already which I haven't. )
2. I think my total cost will come to $500 if I don't buy expensive parts. (What does this mean compared to #1 with 'will' here?)

3. I think my total cost would come to $500 if I didn't buy expensive parts. (Like in #1 as I said, 'didn't' here is saying that you have bought the parts already right?)

Thanks.

MrPedantic · Answer

Hello Jack

1. I think my total cost would come to $500 if I don't buy expensive parts. =>
1a. If I don't buy expensive parts, (I think) my total cost would come to $500.

— mixed conditional, types 1/2. The speaker gives an impression of an immediate action in the IF clause (he is about to buy inexpensive parts), and an impression of a less immediate consequence ('would...') in the main clause. (I would say that the speaker had 'changed horses in mid-stream.')

2. I think my total cost will come to $500 if I don't buy expensive parts. =>
2a. If I don't buy expensive parts, (I think) my total cost will come to $500.

— an impression of an immediate action in the IF clause, and an immediate consequence in the main clause. The speaker seems intent on buying parts. (Bingo! – type 1 conditional.)

3. I think my total cost would come to $500 if I didn't buy expensive parts. =>
3a. If I didn't buy expensive parts, (I think) my total cost would come to $500.

— an impression of a less immediate action in the IF clause, and a less immediate action in the main clause. The speaker is speculating about buying parts. Type 2 conditional.

I've put 'I think' in parentheses throughout, because it doesn't relate to the main structure: it has an adverbial function, roughly synonymous with 'probably' or 'at a guess' or 'by my estimation'.

MrP

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