We have a wide variety of direct marketing options available, Click here for more info.
13
Alert subscribers
+1
This question is Not Answered.
Latest post 172 days ago by CalifJim. 12 replies.
We have a wide variety of direct marketing options available, Click here for more info.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anonymous
[More info]
Hi,
Is it possible to have two "if" clauses in a sentence with one in indicative mood and the other in subjunctive? Please see the following example.
If I get the opportunity to meet him in person, I will have his autograph, if I were not shy to do so.
If this is possible, which verb tense should we use in the non-"if" clause? Present or past tense?
Please help. Thank you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+1
Mr Wordy
[More info]
This sentence feels stiff and unnatural to me. It reads like something written hundreds of years ago (disregarding the reference to autograph hunting!). You could say:
If I get the opportunity to meet him in person, I'll get his autograph -- if I'm not too shy to ask.
Joined on
Tue, May 27 2008
Veteran Member
5,473
Native British English speaker
|
|
|
|
|
Lesson Three: Syllable Structure Can Vary A Lot
Another reason English is so hard to pronounce correctly is because of its 'syllable structure'. In many languages, especially Asian languages such as Japanese and Chinese, syllables very often go: Consonant - Vowel -...
|
|
|
|
|
|
+1
English 1b3
[More info]
 Anonymous“
If I get the opportunity to meet him in person, I will have his autograph, if I were not shy to do so.
”
I would like to hear other people's opinion, but I don't think this works. If I were is subjunctive as you know, so it requires the result clause to express a hypothetical result by using the modal 'would' not 'will'.
Joined on
Wed, Dec 2 2009
Contributing Member
1,780
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks, Mr. Wordy, for your response. I agree your sentence is better, but is it also correct to say the following?
If I get the opportunity to meet him in person, I'll get his autograph -- if I were not too shy to ask (which means I am too shy so I can't and will not ask).
I would really appreciate your input.
|
|
|
|
|
|
+1
Mr Wordy
[More info]
Anonymous “
Thanks, Mr. Wordy, for your response. I agree your sentence is better, but is it also correct to say the following?
If I get the opportunity to meet him in person, I'll get his autograph -- if I were not too shy to ask (which means I am too shy so I can't and will not ask).
I would really appreciate your input. ”
The above sentence doesn't work for me. The closest I can get to a workable variant is:
If I got the opportunity to meet him in person, I'd get his autograph -- if I weren't too shy to ask.
(I'm using contractions just to make the sentence seem more conversational.)
However, I'm wondering if the "I'm too shy so I won't ask" sense comes across completely clearly and unambiguously. If I had to express this in real life I'd probably end up with something like:
If I ever get the opportunity to meet him in person, I'd like to get his autograph -- but I'd be too shy to ask.
(I think you realise this, but, just to be clear, my original suggestion with if I'm not too shy to ask doesn't have the same meaning. It allows the possibility that I might overcome my shyness and ask for the autograph.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+1
CalifJim
[More info]
Anonymous “Is it possible to have two "if" clauses in a sentence with one in indicative mood and the other in subjunctive?”
Yes, but how often does a person need to say something like that? Your attempt doesn't quite work, by the way.
I'm not sure if the following really works very well either, because the kind of combinations you're looking for are completely artificial.
If the detective were smart, he would know that if the man was out of town on the day of the murder, he wasn't the murderer.
CJ
Joined on
Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member
26,178
"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche
|
|
|
|
|
This makes more sense to me now. Thanks for your suggestions and explanations.
Mr Wordy “If I ever get the opportunity to meet him in person, I'd like to get his autograph -- but I'd be too shy to ask.”
Just a question on the quote above, the "if" clause is in indicative mood with the verb get, however, the result clause appears to be in subjunctive with the modal+verb would like. Is this an exception to the rule because would like simply means want in this sentence?
I would really ppreciate your clarification.
CalifJim “If the detective were smart, he would know that if the man was out of town on the day of the murder, he wasn't the murderer.”
Thanks, CJ, for your example. If I am not mistaken, this is a combination of present subjunctive and past indicative mood. Since you say that these combinations are completely artificial, I guess a combination of future indicative and future subjunctive -- as in my original example which didn't work -- is rarely used or possible.
Again, thanks for helping out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
+1
English 1b3
[More info]
Hi, Anon
(I think if you asked specific questions along with the text, people may know what exactly you want to know. From your postings, it is hard to know if you are asking about the subjunctive, conditionals, or just the correctness of your sentence. Your topic title doesn't seem to be what you are concerned about, judging by your latest posts.)
Note: The 'if clauses' use the past subjuntive 'were' with hypothetical statements; would or should must be used in the main/result clause.
However, it is important to note that just because the result clause includes the modal would or should doesn't mean the if clause is hypothetical and requires the subjunctive 'were.'
|
|
|
|
|
|