Conditional

Share on Facebook

	Magda  #289980  Mon, 06 Nov 06 09:28 PM Hi, could you tell me whether this sentence is correct? "If Tim hadn't retired he would have been here with us."    Magda Joined on Sat, Sep 9 2006 Full Member (445)

	Pastsimple  #289981  Mon, 06 Nov 06 09:33 PM  Magda wrote: Hi, could you tell me whether this sentence is correct? "If Tim hadn't retired he would have been here with us." It should be: If Tim hadn't retired (= then) he would be here with us (= now). (mixed conditional)    Pastsimple Joined on Thu, Feb 16 2006 Czech Republic, Europe Full Member (303) If you are a native speaker and find any grammar or stylistic mistakes in my posts, don't hesitate to tell me! I will really appreciate that.
Select Tags... SaveCancel Conditionals, Mixed conditionals

	Grammar Geek  #290001  Mon, 06 Nov 06 10:12 PM I missed the here... I was about to say it was fine. If it were "there with us" then you could use the tenses as you had shown.    Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Pennsylvania, USA Veteran Member (16,003) Barbara, who answers in American English.
Tenses

	Inchoateknowledge  #290003  Mon, 06 Nov 06 10:27 PM "If Tim hadn't retired he would have been here with us." Just a question: the speaker is in the same place as Tim would have been, if he had not retired. How would you say that, then? That is, if "here" would refer to the place where Tim would have been with us, as well as the place where the speaker is now.    Inchoateknowledge Joined on Wed, May 3 2006 Senior Member (2,536) Beep! Beep! :)

	MrPedantic  #290029  Tue, 07 Nov 06 12:16 AM 1. If Tim hadn't retired he would have been here with us now. 2. If Tim hadn't retired he would be here with us now. I must admit, both sound fine to me. The only difference I can see is that #1 suggests "here with us now on this occasion", while #2 suggests "here with us now at this moment". Thus #1 expresses a broader sense of "here and now". MrP    MrPedantic Joined on Wed, Oct 13 2004 Veteran Member (12,144) ...opella forensis / adducit febris...

	Marius Hancu  #290036  Tue, 07 Nov 06 12:56 AM 1. If Tim hadn't retired he would have been here with us now. To me, 1 is broader in general, because you can apply most of it to the past: If Tim hadn't retired he would have been here with us yesterday/on that day. That is to say, to a past which can be extended to the present/now, as in 1. Also, to me the "would have" brings more uncertainty, close to impossible, as in contrary-to-the-fact situations (which this is).    Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Montreal, Canada Veteran Member (11,673)

	Yoong Liat  #290086  Tue, 07 Nov 06 04:08 AM I agree with Marius. Strictly speaking, the first sentence is correct.    Yoong Liat Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006 Singapore Veteran Member (6,085) Yoong Liat

	Tartan  #290108  Tue, 07 Nov 06 04:53 AM This is a classic Conditional 3 sentence. Here is a link to a quick reference. [link]" target="_blank" title="http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blconditionals.htm">esl.about.com/library/grammar/blconditionals.htm. In sum, Magda's sentence is correct.    Tartan Joined on Mon, Nov 6 2006 Georgia, USA New Member (23)
Grammar, Conditionals

	Magda  #290164  Tue, 07 Nov 06 08:44 AM Thank you all a lot    Magda