If clause question

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Tlzone08  #379754  Fri, 15 Jun 07 01:57 AM

Can someone tell me the difference between

"Would it be okay if we moved it to Tuesday next week?" and

"Would it be okay if we move it to Tuesday next week?"

Which one is correct ?

  
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CalifJim  #379772  Fri, 15 Jun 07 02:48 AM
The first is correct.  It's the typical pattern of if and past tense used with a clause with would.

Many people use the second as well.  There is no real difference in meaning.  I think we can say that it, too, is correct, even though it does not follow the most typical pattern.

CJ

  
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Philip  #379957  Fri, 15 Jun 07 03:21 PM
 Tlzone08 wrote:

Can someone tell me the difference between

"Would it be okay if we moved it to Tuesday next week?" and

"Would it be okay if we move it to Tuesday next week?"

Which one is correct ?

To be exact, "will" goes with "move".....both are common and generally accepted by all but the most critical.
  
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Marius Hancu  #379967  Fri, 15 Jun 07 03:39 PM
>To be exact, "will" goes with "move".....

Good point.
  
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Bokeh  #379977  Fri, 15 Jun 07 04:01 PM
 Tlzone08 wrote:

"Would it be okay if we moved it to Tuesday next week?"

When I was at school we were always taught: "Would it be okay if we were to move it  to Tuesday next week?"
  
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Kooyeen  #380062  Fri, 15 Jun 07 06:46 PM
Hi everyone,
I think that's a mixed conditional (= half first conditional and half second). It seems it's ok in speaking, and a lot of native speakers use mixed conditional, but I'm always afraid to use them, because I'm afraid to sound unnatural.

If I give you my old car, would you fix it and make a new car out of it?
Well, if George is elected again, I don't know what I would do... If he wins, I would probably hang myself.

I sometimes tend to say sentences like those (especially like the fist one). They are probably not formally ok and they definitley could be said in a better way, but do the sound unnatural? I mean, if someone says those kinds of sentences, would everyone notice their great oddness? Smile [:)]

  
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CalifJim  #380113  Fri, 15 Jun 07 08:15 PM
Would it be OK if has become a set phrase used for politeness.  The conditionality of the word if is almost absent, and the phrase is in reality just a weaker, more tentative version of Is it OK if.  Because of this, it seems to have the force of a present tense in meaning, if not in form.  I think this is what makes a present tense seem natural after Would it be OK if.  Others may have a different explanation.

Other mixed conditionals -- where no politeness formula is involved -- do not so easily escape sounding at least a little odd, such as:

If he wins, I would ....
If someone says ... , would anyone notice?
If I give you ..., would you ...?

CJ

  
Kooyeen  #380162  Fri, 15 Jun 07 10:01 PM
I see, thanks.
You said at least a little odd... I think they could sound odd in writing, because you read them slowly, but I think that in normal speech, those mixed conditional are really found. The "standard" versions sound best, but in speech often you don't have time to plan the way you are going to say your sentences... Smile [:)]
  
CalifJim  #380166  Fri, 15 Jun 07 10:10 PM
<you don't have time to plan the way you are going to say your sentences>

Speak for yourself!  I plan all my sentences for the day before breakfast!  Smile [:)]

But seriously, the native speaker doesn't have time to plan sentences either, but the difference is that the native speaker does not have to plan.  Lifelong habits take over.  For adult learners, it's also a matter of repeating patterns to the point that they become habits.  Until the habits kick in, you may have to do some planning!

CJ
  
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