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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Would

If I was there, I would have helped him. I know 'if I had been there' is the correct one, but I never heard native people saying 'if I had been there'; they just use simple past. What do you think?
  

Top answer

Know what? I even know college-educated native speakers who don't pay much attention to proper grammar in their daily lives, even to the point of: If I woulda been there I woulda helped him. I leave them alone, just making sure that when I am speaking, they might catch the difference.

— Philip

  • Know what?
  • I even know college-educated native speakers who don't pay much attention to proper grammar in their daily lives, even to the point of: If I woulda been there I woulda helped him.
  • I leave them alone, just making sure that when I am speaking, they might catch the difference.
  • I'm always happy to explain, if they ask; and then they are usually very receptive to learning the correct.
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3 Answers
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Know what? I even know college-educated native speakers who don't pay much attention to proper grammar in their daily lives, even to the point of: If I woulda been there I woulda helped him. I leave them alone, just making sure that when I am speaking, they might catch the difference. I'm always happy to explain, if they ask; and then they are usually very receptive to learning the corr
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Anonymous If I was there, I would have helped him. I know 'if I had been there' is the correct one, but I never heard native people saying 'if I had been there'; they just use simple past. What do you think?
I don't know any native speaker who would say 'If I was there' in that situation. I do know people who would say 'If I'd've been there' or even 'If
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Thank you to both for the responses. I just want to be familiar with native people.
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