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Latest post Sat, Sep 3 2005 1:10 AM by MrPedantic. 3 replies.
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jack112  +  133099 Fri, 02 Sep 05 07:46 AM

I saw this on TV:

1. If I am your uncle, I got to finish what I started.

2. If I was your uncle, I would finish what I started. (The TV show shows that he wants to finish what he started, so #1 is the right one to use right? Is this an exception?)

Thanks.
jack112
Joined on Thu, Jul 22 2004
Regular Member 715
Mister Micawber  +  133158 Fri, 02 Sep 05 11:56 AM

You don't indicate which sentence he actually uttered, but in any case we need more context, Jack.  Who knows what he's talking about?!  Maybe he just discovered he's the other person's uncle.  Also, he sounds excited-- in which condition folks are liable to say anything.  Or his character may belong to a dialect minority.

Bottom line:  don't be too analytical of TV English.
Mister Micawber
Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004
Yokohama
Veteran Member 30,791
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'
Related discussions
goldmund  +  133190 Fri, 02 Sep 05 02:13 PM
 Jack112 wrote:

I saw this on TV:

1. If I am your uncle, I got to finish what I started.

2. If I was your uncle, I would finish what I started. (The TV show shows that he wants to finish what he started, so #1 is the right one to use right? Is this an exception?)

Thanks.

Dear Jack112,

You have said that he wants to finish what he started. He is therefore, it seems, the uncle. He therefore may not say «if I was your uncle».

Kind regards, Smile [:)]

Goldmund
goldmund
Joined on Fri, Jun 10 2005
Regular Member 581
«Tout homme peut dire véritablement; mais dire ordonnément, prudemment et suffisamment, peu d'hommes le peuvent.» - Michel de Montaigne
MrPedantic  +  133319 Sat, 03 Sep 05 01:10 AM

1. If I am your uncle, I got to finish what I started.

2. If I were/was your uncle, I would finish what I started.

#1 implies 'I am your uncle. Therefore I must finish what I started.'

#2 implies 'Suppose I were your uncle. I would then have to finish what I started.'

MrP
MrPedantic
Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004
Veteran Member 12,592
...opella forensis / adducit febris...
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