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Jooney Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Would
Hi,
In a 2003 decision that the majority said it expected would last for 25 years, the Supreme Court allowed public colleges and universities to take account of race in admission decisions. On Tuesday, the court signaled that it might end such affirmative action much sooner than that.
By agreeing to hear a major case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas, the court thrust affirmative action back into the public and political discourse after years in which it had mostly faded from view. Both supporters and opponents of affirmative action said they saw the announcement — and the change in the court’s makeup since 2003 — as a signal that the court’s five more conservative members might be prepared to do away with racial preferences in higher education.
The consequences of such a decision would be striking. It would, all sides agree, reduce the number of African-American and Latino students at nearly every selective college and graduate school, with more Asian-American and white students gaining entrance instead.
As far as I know, this type of "would" is used in a remote conditional. It implicates that P is false or at least likely to be. And Q will likewise be false or probably false.
If the Supreme Court imposed greater limitation on affirmative action(which is unlikely to happen), the consequence of such a decision would be striking.(this is only a remote possibility as well)
The same goes for the second "would".
Am I correct?
I'd appreciate your help.
In a 2003 decision that the majority said it expected would last for 25 years, the Supreme Court allowed public colleges and universities to take account of race in admission decisions. On Tuesday, the court signaled that it might end such affirmative action much sooner than that.
By agreeing to hear a major case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas, the court thrust affirmative action back into the public and political discourse after years in which it had mostly faded from view. Both supporters and opponents of affirmative action said they saw the announcement — and the change in the court’s makeup since 2003 — as a signal that the court’s five more conservative members might be prepared to do away with racial preferences in higher education.
The consequences of such a decision would be striking. It would, all sides agree, reduce the number of African-American and Latino students at nearly every selective college and graduate school, with more Asian-American and white students gaining entrance instead.
As far as I know, this type of "would" is used in a remote conditional. It implicates that P is false or at least likely to be. And Q will likewise be false or probably false.
If the Supreme Court imposed greater limitation on affirmative action(which is unlikely to happen), the consequence of such a decision would be striking.(this is only a remote possibility as well)
The same goes for the second "would".
Am I correct?
I'd appreciate your help.
Top answer
jooney Am I correct? Yes. The simplest way of explaining it is to say that the if-clause is implicit.
- jooney Am I correct?
- Yes.
- The simplest way of explaining it is to say that the if-clause is implicit.
- If that decision were made, the consequences would be striking.
- If that decision were made, one of these consequences would be to reduce the number ...
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4 Answers
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jooneyAm I correct?Yes.
The simplest way of explaining it is to say that the if-cla
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Thank you very much for your reply, CJ.
"P" is the subordinate clause functioning as complement of "if", and "Q" is the main clause in the conditional sentences.
"P" is the subordinate clause functioning as complement of "if", and "Q" is the main clause in the conditional sentences.
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jooney"P" is the subordinate clause functioning as complement of "if", and "Q" is the main clause in the conditional sentences.OK. Then, it's
IF P, (THEN) Q.
jooneyAs far as I know, this type of "would" is used in a remote conditional. It implicates implies? that P is false or at least like
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I think I'll have to get back to this after doing in-depth study of conditional constructions. Thank you for your comments.
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