Teo  +  176487 Fri, 30 Dec 05 02:28 PM If you steal my money, you __! (A) die (B) are dead. Which is correct? Teo Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004 Taiwan Contributing Member 1,631 Thank you very much for your reply.

	davkett  +  176524 Fri, 30 Dec 05 03:42 PM Both of them are said, especially in movies, though each seems to have a unique nuance.  I don't know how to look at them grammatically-- if that is your question--  but 'you die' feels more directly suggestive of "I will personally kill you",  where 'you are dead' has a more indirect tone, possibly meaning "you are dead to me", or "you are as good as dead".     davkett Joined on Tue, Jun 7 2005 Pennsylvania, USA Senior Member 2,788 "The rose stays fresh in its name..." -Bernard of Morlay

	YoHf  +  176565 Fri, 30 Dec 05 05:49 PM I'd go for: If you stole my money, you would be dead or If you stole my money, you would die YoHf Joined on Wed, Oct 26 2005 Senior Member 3,347 Shinichi Okazaki.

	Philip  +  176573 Fri, 30 Dec 05 05:55 PM  YoHf wrote: I'd go for: If you stole my money, you would be dead or If you stole my money, you would die This is a perfectly correct conditional sentence.  It expresses a hypothetical situation.  In the original, using present tenses, I believe it sounds like the threat is really there, or suspected. Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,604 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Tenses, Present Tenses, Conditionals

	MrPedantic  +  176856 Sat, 31 Dec 05 03:09 AM Yes; the "stole...would" form sounds less immediate than the original. It would give the impression of a rather nervous and halfhearted threat. In British English, "you die!" would sound a little mannered: like an arch and over-literary 6th-former. "You're dead!" seems more likely, over here; though "you – are – dead!" with emphasis on each word is also possible. MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 13,616 ...opella forensis / adducit febris... British English