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Latest post Wed, May 6 2009 2:07 AM by Grammar Geek. 8 replies.
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Teo  +  589214 Wed, 19 Nov 08 07:30 AM

1. If you get one million dollars, what will you do?
2. Should you get one million dollars, what would you do?
3. If you should get one million dollars, what would you do?
4. If you were to get one million dollars, what would you do?
5. If you got one million dollars, what would you do?
According to a Canadian, #3, #4 and #5 are all correct and mean the same thing. They all suggest that it is entirely unlikely. However, #1 suggests that it is entirely possibel.
According to http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=73138&dict=CALD , people use ‘should you get....'[#2] to mean 'if you get'[#1].
According to an Englishman, #2 is a literary equivalent of #3.
I am totally confused about these contradictory statements! Does [should you get] mean [if you get] or [if you should get]? Can any native speaker help me?

Teo
Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004
Taiwan
Contributing Member 1,631
Thank you very much for your reply.
Cool Breeze  +  589235 Wed, 19 Nov 08 09:15 AM
 I'm not a native speaker but Iagree with the Englishman who says that No. 2 is a literary equivalent of No. 3. No. 1 implies that getting a million dollars is indeed possible. Nos. 2, 3 and 4 suggest that getting the money is very unlikely. No. 5 asks what the person would do if he got a million dollars without implying that getting the money is possible or impossible.

CB

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006
Senior Member 3,970
"I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991
CalifJim  +  589239 Wed, 19 Nov 08 09:26 AM
1a. If you get one million dollars, what will you do?

1b. If you got one million dollars, what would you do?

2a. Should you get one million dollars, what will you do?

2b. Should you get one million dollars, what would you do?

3a. If you should get one million dollars, what will you do?

3b. If you should get one million dollars, what would you do?

4a. [none] 

4b. If you were to get one million dollars, what would you do?

___

All the a's have the same meaning.

All the b's have the same meaning.

Group 2 and 3 (with should) are much less used.  These rather literary forms are used mostly in poetry and song lyrics and book titles, for example, but rarely in conversation these days. 

CJ 

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member 22,389
"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche
Teo, 1 yr 2 days ago

Thank you so very much, CJ.

Now I fully understand.

sitifan  +  715890 Tue, 05 May 09 04:33 AM
CalifJim
Group 2 and 3 (with should) are much less used.  These rather literary forms are used mostly in poetry and song lyrics and book titles, for example, but rarely in conversation these days. 

CJ 

 Groups 2 and 3?

Joined on Fri, Mar 14 2008
Taiwan
Full Member 230
Thank you very much for your reply.
Clive  +  715915 Tue, 05 May 09 05:01 AM
Hi,

If this is intended to be a hypothetical question, I don't find 'get' a very idiomatic verb.

 

You're much more likely to hear 'If you had a million dollars, what would you do?'

 In such a question, the focus is on the possession and not on 'the getting'.

 

Best wishes, Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004
Canada
Veteran Member 29,594
El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo
CalifJim  +  716232 Tue, 05 May 09 08:42 AM
sitifan
“ Groups 2 and 3?
Yes, also, and probably better.  But I was thinking "Group 2 and (Group) 3 ... are ...."


CJ

sitifan  +  717568 Wed, 06 May 09 01:29 AM

4a. [none]

If you are to get one million dollars, what will you do?

Is the above sentence possible?

Grammar Geek  +  717592 Wed, 06 May 09 02:07 AM
sitifan

 

4a. [none]

If you are to get one million dollars, what will you do?

Is the above sentence possible?

 

 

It's not natural at all.

 

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006
Veteran Member 19,653
Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!
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