would have + PP

Question

The accident happened shortly before midnight, when most people would have been at home.1. Does this sentence imply an unstated if clause?2. Is it a third conditional? What does it mean?3. Can "would have + pp" only be in third conditional?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

1. Does this sentence imply an unstated if clause? No.
2. Is it a third conditional? What does it mean? No. It is not a counter-factual statement. It is generally true that most people are at home at that time.
3. Can "would have + pp" only be in third conditional? No.

Ozzourti · Answer

I don't think it has anything to do with conditionals. To me, "would" simply indicates the speaker's presumption. One would normally expect most people to be at home right before midnight. The author used "would have been" because the sentence refers to the past.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The accident happened shortly before midnight, when most people would have been at home.

Here is a conditional form of the sentence.

If the accident had happened during the afternoon (counter-factual), most people would have been outside their homes (consequence).

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThe accident happened shortly before midnight, when most people would have been at home.
1. Does this sentence imply an unstated if clause?
2. Is it a third conditional? What does it mean?
3. Can "would have + pp" only be in third conditional?

1. Not really. This example comes in the general category of would (and would have) in logical deductions from generally accepted facts. The only implicit if-clause in this usage is the vacuous If things [are / were] as is generally believed.

2. No. There's no if so there's no condition (other than the vacuous condition referred to above).
It means Most people would have been at home shortly before midnight, which can be restated as We expect that most people were at home shortly before midnight because, in general, most people are at home shortly before midnight.

3. No. There is no such restriction on the construction would have + pp.
______________

Similar usage.

The young Mussolini grew up in an environment where the talk would have been about socialism, republicanism and nationalism. (We are justified in deducing from what we know about the environment that Mussolini grew up in that the talk was about socialism, and so on.)

Johnny's criminal record shows activity between 1991 and 1994, when Johnny would have been between 17 and 20.
(We deduce from what we know about Johnny, particularly his date of birth, that he was between 17 and 20 in the years reported.)

He knew that non-combatants were being killed between 8 am and 9 am, when there would still have been time to prevent many civilian deaths. (We deduce from other factors known to us that between 8 am and 9 am there was still time to prevent many civilian deaths.)

CJ

Enviro500 · Answer

CalifJim AnonymousThe accident happened shortly before midnight, when most people would have been at home.1. Does this sentence imply an unstated if clause?2. Is it a third conditional? What does it mean?3. Can "would have + pp" only be in third conditional?1. Not really. This example comes in the general category of would (and would have) in logical deductions from generally accepted facts. The only implicit if-clause in this usage is the vacuous If things [are / were] as is generally believed.2. No. There's no if so there's no condition (other than the vacuous condition referred to above).It means Most people would have been at home shortly before midnight, which can be restated as We expect that most people were at home shortly before midnight because, in general, most people are at home shortly before midnight.3. No. There is no such restriction on the construction would have + pp.______________Similar usage.The young Mussolini grew up in an environment where the talk would have been about socialism, republicanism and nationalism. (We are justified in deducing from what we know about the environment that Mussolini grew up in that the talk was about socialism, and so on.)Johnny's criminal record shows activity between 1991 and 1994, when Johnny would have been between 17 and 20.(We deduce from what we know about Johnny, particularly his date of birth, that he was between 17 and 20 in the years reported.)He knew that non-combatants were being killed between 8 am and 9 am, when there would still have been time to prevent many civilian deaths. (We deduce from other factors known to us that between 8 am and 9 am there was still time to prevent many civilian deaths.)CJ

Hi CJ, let's see another example:

There is no formal date for when Tom became a teacher (other than it would have been in 2008).

In my opinion, the speaker deduces from something that Tom became a teacher in 2008, but he doesn't know the exact date. Is that right?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

enviro500There is no formal date for when Tom became a teacher (other than it would have been in 2008).In my opinion, the speaker deduces from something that Tom became a teacher in 2008, but he doesn't know the exact date. Is that right?

Yes. He became a teacher some time during the year 2008.

CalifJim · Answer

enviro500the speaker deduces ...

Right.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks AlpheccaStars, ozzourti and CalifJim!

would have + PP

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions