Mixed Conditional

If I'm correct, you would have had such hybrids banned from the very beginning, Mr. P.!

CJ

If I'm correct, you would have had such hybrids banned from the very beginning, Mr. P.!

Is this a mixed conditional, though? I'm not sure the action in the main clause is directly dependent on the IF clause. I'd call it an ellipsis of some kind:

1. If I'm correct, if you had had your way, you would have had...

If I left my notes on the bus, then I won't be able to tell you master moderators of the universe about all the various mixed conditionals that can crop up...

I would take this as an inferential IF statement, rather than a conditional IF. 'If I left my notes' relates to a real situation; whereas in this version

2. If I left my notes on the bus, I wouldn't be able...

it relates to an imaginary situation. So I would take woodcutter's 'left' as a simple indicative past tense, and the 'left' in #2 as a 'past tense used to denote remoteness/imaginariness'.

Cf. the version with a present perfect:

3. If I have left my notes on the bus, I won't be able...

MrP

I'd say that in neither case is the statement 'mixed', as both parts of the sentence relate to a 'real' situation.

Dialogue A
"Damn. I can't find the notes for my presentation anywhere."
"Where do you think you left them?"
"I have a feeling I left it them in the taxi."
"But you can still give your talk, right?"
"You're joking! If I've lost my notes, I certainly won't be able to give my presentation!"

Or:

"If I left my notes in the taxi, I certainly won't be able to give my presentation!"

(Which = "if I did indeed leave my notes in the taxi...")

Contrast this with:

Dialogue B
"What if I forget my notes?"
"Why would you forget your notes?"
"Well, I might leave them in the taxi."
"But you'd still be able to give your talk, right?"
"You're joking! If I lost my notes, I certainly wouldn't be able to give my presentation!"

In Dialogue A, both parts of the IF statement relate to the 'real' situation. In Dialogue B, both parts relate to an imaginary situation.

I'd say that the past tense in the IF clauses here is being used in two different ways: one indicative, and thus literally past (A); one crypto-subjunctive, and thus 'past-for-remote' (B).

It seems to me that the only case where we can successfully mix real with imaginary clauses is in polite requests*:

1. If you'd just sign here, I'll get your room keys.

MrP

*Edit: or polite imperatives -

2. If you'd be willing to provide cover for the bank holiday, please let me know.

If I'm correct, you would have had such hybrids banned from the very beginning, Mr. P.!

Is this a mixed conditional, though? I'm not sure the action in the main clause is directly dependent on the IF clause. I'd call it an ellipsis of some kind: 1. If I'm correct, if you had had your way, you would have had...

Nertz! I thought I could sneak that by you!

Nevertheless, as a surface structure I think it's quite likely to be seen by a learner as a mixed conditional. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Jim