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Teleostomi Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Would have

1) I would have liked to thank you.

2) I would like to have thanked you.

Which is better?

3) If you would have arrived sooner, you would have missed the train.

Is this a wrong sentence?
  

Top answer

The easy one first: #3 is wrong; two modal auxiliaries cannot co-occur. Change to: if you had arrived sooner, you would have missed the train . (By the way, the meaning seems odd; I would have thought: if you had arrived later , you would have missed the train .

— Mister Micawber

  • The easy one first: #3 is wrong; two modal auxiliaries cannot co-occur.
  • Change to: if you had arrived sooner, you would have missed the train .
  • (By the way, the meaning seems odd; I would have thought: if you had arrived later , you would have missed the train .
  • Now, #1 and #2: This one continues to trouble me, and if I have ever found or been given a definitive explanation, I have lost or forgotten it.
  • It seems to me that both are acceptable, but with different meanings.
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6 Answers
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The easy one first: #3 is wrong; two modal auxiliaries cannot co-occur. Change to: if you had arrived sooner, you would have missed the train. (By the way, the meaning seems odd; I would have thought: if you had arrived later, you would have missed the train.

Now, #1 and #2: This one continues to trouble me, and if I have ever found or been given a definitive exp
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<The easy one first: #3 is wrong; two modal auxiliaries cannot co-occur.>

Where are the two modal auxiliaries there?
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Milky<The easy one first: #3 is wrong; two modal auxiliaries cannot co-occur.>

Where are the two modal auxiliaries there?
Guess MM's talking about the 2 woulds:

3) If you would have arrived sooner, you would have missed the train.

Anyway, one
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Mister MicawberNow, #1 and #2: This one continues to trouble me, and if I have ever found or been given a definitive explanation, I have lost or forgotten it. It seems to me that both are acceptable, but with different meanings. If we extrapolate:

If I had been there, I would have liked to thank you. I know that from present consideration.
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Are we discussing only standard English here?
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Thank you, all the teachers with the letter M. Your explanation helps a lot!

Marius,


would have for had. In spoken English, there is a growing tendency to use would have in place of the subjunctive had in contrary-to-fact clauses, such as If she would have (instead of
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