Mixed Conditionals (Is this allowed?)

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Anonymous

#122704 Sat, 30 Jul 05 10:07 PM

Hello.
I was reading jack112 threads because he had many questions on conditionals. I wanted to know more about mixed conditionals in particular, so I did a search on google. I came across a couple of sites, and I was wondering if you could verify the authenticity of their contents.

http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/IF8.cfm
http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/mixedconditional.html

For instance, it says you could use sentences like "If I wasn't afraid of spiders, I would have picked it up" that have a If + simple past, Perfect conditional form.

One more thing:
I know the following sentence is grammatically correct:
If his father hadn't lost all his money, John would be studying at the university.
But why is this not correct?
If his father hadn't lost all his money, John would study at the university.

I thank you in advance for you help.

Anonymous

Conditionals, Grammar, Mixed conditionals, Simple past, Universities

Eimai_Anglos

#122757 Sun, 31 Jul 05 01:50 AM

"If I wasn't afraid of spiders, I would have picked it up" sounds acceptable to me, as an English native. However, I would prefer to say: "If I weren't afraid of spiders, I would have picked it up".

Martin

Eimai_Anglos

Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005

Cheshire, England

Full Member (454)

Martin - native English speaker and technical author.

Conditionals, Mixed conditionals

MrPedantic

#122758 Sun, 31 Jul 05 02:01 AM

...For instance, it says you could use sentences like "If I wasn't afraid of spiders, I would have picked it up" that have a If + simple past, Perfect conditional form...

Yes, it sounds fine to me too. You might have expected a straightforward 'type 3' protasis (if I hadn't been afraid...); but 'was/were' often replaces 'had been', where a condition that was true at that time ('I was afraid of spiders then') is current at the time of speaking ('I am still afraid of spiders').

Cf.

1. If I had been a few years younger, I would have accepted her invitation.

2. If I were a few years younger, I would have accepted her invitation.

#1 sounds as if it happened 10 years ago. #2 sounds as if it happened yesterday.

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Wed, Oct 13 2004

Veteran Member (12,047)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

Conditionals, Invitations, Mixed conditionals, Simple past

MrPedantic

#122761 Sun, 31 Jul 05 02:20 AM

Anonymous wrote:
Hello.
I came across a couple of sites, and I was wondering if you could verify the authenticity of their contents.

http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/IF8.cfm
http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/mixedconditional.html

The pages look ok. The first site should mention that the subjunctive 'were' is standard in place of 'was' in the first and third person singular:

1. If MrQ were here, you wouldn't have done that.

Though you hear this use of 'were' slightly less often in BrE than in AmE.

The last set of examples on the second site don't sound like mixed conditionals to me. They seem like standard type 2s. But maybe other members will have other opinions.

2. If his father hadn't lost all his money, John would study at the university.

This structure (IF past perfect, main clause 'would' + base form) isn't incorrect, with the right context:

3. If his father hadn't throttled him at birth, MrQ would be prime minister now.

The present progressive is used where the context requires a sense of a continuing action:

4. If I'd braked sooner, I wouldn't now be paying $300 for repairs.

MrP

MrPedantic

Clauses, Conditionals, Grammar, Mixed conditionals, Past perfect, Present progressive, Subjunctives, Universities

Anonymous

#122763 Sun, 31 Jul 05 02:39 AM

Thank you both for the reply.

I know "past perfect + conditional progressive" forms such as the following are grammatically correct.
If I had had time, I would be talking to her now.

But are "past perfect + simple conditional" forms allowed too?
If I had had time, I would talk to her. <- Is this okay?

How about,
If I had time, I would be talking to her (simple past + conditional progressive).
If I weren't being afraid of spiders, I would have picked it up (past progressive + conditional perfect).
Are these allowed? Are these considered colloquial?

Thank you

Anonymous