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PandaPiano181 Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Would be or would have been

Hello,

I'm having an argument with a friend, we're talking about a job interview which hasn't happened yet.

I was talking about how stressed I was going to be before the interview, and he said:

"You won't be paralysed by fear as badly as I would be"

Now, to me, I would have said "You won't be paralysed by fear as badly as I would have been" but he maintains that his sentence is the correct one. I'm not quite sure why?

Frankly, I'm not quite sure why. Can anyone explain the grammar behind what makes my version incorrect and his correct?

Thank you very much

  

Top answer

" The interview is in the future. PandaPiano181 "You won't be paralysed by fear as badly as I would have been" The sequence of tenses is incorrect. If you are speaking about an interview in the past, use the simple past with the modal perfect.

— AlpheccaStars

  • " The interview is in the future.
  • PandaPiano181 "You won't be paralysed by fear as badly as I would have been" The sequence of tenses is incorrect.
  • If you are speaking about an interview in the past, use the simple past with the modal perfect.
  • I would have been paralysed by fear, but you were not.
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2 Answers
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PandaPiano181"You won't be paralysed by fear as badly as I would."

The interview is in the future.

PandaPiano181"You won't be paralysed by fear as badly as I would have been"

The sequence of tenses is incorrect. If you are speaking about an interview in the past, use the simple past with the modal perfect.

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PandaPiano181how stressed I was going to be before the interview

You won't ... as I will be.

If it's "before", then the interview is in the future. That's "will". I don't know why either of you thinks some use of "would" is needed.

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