Would and tense

Question

I have a little doubt, which obe of the following phrases is correct ( concerning the tense of the "if" clause):
1) It would be nice if we have dinner tomorrow
2) It would be nice if we had dinner tomorrow

Thanks for your help

Andrei · Accepted Answer

This bears conditional nature. So I would go to the second sentence.

Let us say someone invited me to dinnere tomorrow. I have accepted his invitation.

I could say the following to my wife:

If I didn't go to his dinner tomrrow, he would be disappointed.

I will go there; however, I could tell the above to my wife just to tell the conditional nature.

Your first sentence is correct too, as far as I am concerned. Every thing hinges on the context.

Miriam · Answer

I remember that when I first learned conditional sentences I was made to believe that the rules for choosing the right tenses to use were strict to the point that they wouldn't allow for any changes or variations.
Later on, I found out that there is some "flexibility" in the choice of tense. For example, in a "Type III" conditional sentence, you won't always have "if + past perfect + perfect conditional"; other options are also possible and meaningful, depending on the context.

In your example, however, I think that the second sentence is the one that makes sense -always takng into account the fact that you didn't provide a context.
I cannot think, off the top of my head, of a suitable context for your first sentence. I cannot say I know many of the forms native speakers of English use because I'm not one of them and I do not live in an English-speaking community. Yet, I wouldn't choose the first sentence.

Fab54 · Answer

Thank you for your answers!

Jumana · Answer

hi

I think the first one sounds better

because we can't use had

had is used to form the past while you are talking about the future

The sentence (it would be nice )is seperated so you can't count on WOULD

The speaker used would assuming that it's nice to have a dinner.

Miriam · Answer

Hello, jumana.

Actually, in English you can use "had + tomorrow". The sentence fab54 posted in their first message is a good example of it. In "Type II" conditional sentences, one of the most common structures is:
(IF + past simple) + (WOULD + INFINITIVE)

"We would go shopping tomorrow if you didn't have to work."
"If I were you, I would wear the blue dress to the party next Saturday."
"If you had time tomorrow we could have lunch together."
"If you came early tomorrow, we could go to the cinema."

Miriam

Fab54 · Answer

Thanks Myriam, that's what I wanted to hear

And your examples are great and clear!!!

Would and tense

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