It would have/had been okay, if it were you.

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Jackson6612

#419681 Sun, 16 Sep 07 06:31 PM

Which of the following sentences is correct?

1: It would have been okay, if it were you.

2: It would had been okay, if it were you.

Jackson6612

Joined on Wed, Dec 27 2006

Senior Member (2,952)

NOTE: When you reply to my post, please look for mistakes in grammar, syntax or punctuation, and let me know of any suggestions you have. Thank you.

Ant_222

#419696 Sun, 16 Sep 07 06:55 PM

If you mean the present:

Yesterday I drank too much vodka. I would feel much better (now) if it had been wine.

As to your second sentence, "would had been" is certainly wrong, while your #1 requires a context to decide whether it is correct. It might be some kind of mixed conditional, like:

I would have told you if you were a policeman!

Non-mixed:
It would have been OK (yesterday) if I hadn't drunk vodka (the day before yesterday).

EDIT: Ok, here's your context (from another thread):

«Isn't Commander-in-Chief a kind of weird noun? It would have been okay, if it were Chief Commander instead of C-in-C.»

You should say: "It would be ok if it was/were Chief Commander".

Ant_222

Joined on Sun, May 21 2006

Podolsk, Russia

Contributing Member (1,547)

Conditionals, Mixed conditionals, Nouns

Jackson6612

#419707 Sun, 16 Sep 07 07:07 PM

Ant_222 wrote:
If you mean the present: Yesterday I drank too much vodka. I would feel much better (now) if it had been wine. As to your sentence, "would had been" is certainly wrong, while your #1 requires a context to decide whether it is correct. It would have been OK (yesterday) if I hadn't drunk vodka (the day before yesterday).

Context:

You didn't tell me that it was your friend who needed help. Man, I cannot help him. I hate him and you know it. It would have/had been okay, if it were you. I would happily help you.

Jackson6612

Ant_222

#419712 Sun, 16 Sep 07 07:14 PM

With this context: «You didn't tell me that it was your friend who needed help. Man, I cannot help him. I hate him and you know it. It would have/had been okay, if it were you. I would happily help you.»

I think you're right.

If you didn't help him in the past, that's the way to express it, I mean "would have been".

As I said, "would had been" is never OK.

The use would turns "had" into "have" just like the use of "did" turns "went" into "go":

I went there.
Did you go there.
I did go there.

Ant_222

Kooyeen

#419726 Sun, 16 Sep 07 07:54 PM

Jackson6612 wrote:
You didn't tell me that it was your friend who needed help. Man, I cannot help him. I hate him and you know it. It would have/had been okay, if it were you. I would happily help you.

You didn't tell me that it is/was your friend who needs/needed help. Man, I cannot help him. I hate him and you know it. It would be ok if it was/were you who needed help. I would happily help you. <-- all this in a context where that friend needs help (now).

You didn't tell me that it is/was your friend who needs/needed help. It would be ok if it was/were you (who needed help). I would happily help you. But I cannot help him. I hate him and you know it. <-- all this in a context where that friend needs help (now).

You didn't tell me that it was your friend who needed help. Man, I hate him and you know it. I wouldn't have done that if I had known it was not for you. It would have been okay, if it was/had been you who needed help. I would happily have helped you. <--- in a context where that friend needed help sometime in the past.

That's some stuff for you... not sure you really needed that, though. It's just what I would say. Smile [:)]

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (3,973)

If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.

Jackson6612

#419757 Sun, 16 Sep 07 10:23 PM

Kooyeen wrote:

You didn't tell me that it was your friend who needed help. Man, I hate him and you know it. I wouldn't have done that if I had known it was not for you. It would have been okay, if it was/had been you who needed help. I would happily have helped you. <--- in a context where that friend needed help sometime in the past.

Hi Kooyeen,

Don't you think red and brown statements are in contradiction to each other? The red statements tell that help was received, while the brown statements point out that help wasn't received.

Jackson6612

CalifJim

#419761 Sun, 16 Sep 07 10:31 PM

Jackson,

The modals are can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must.

The bare infinitive of to have is have -- not has or had or having.

All modals must be followed by a bare infinitive.

You should now be able to answer your own question very easily.

Which of the following sentences is correct?

1: It would have been okay, if it were you.

2: It would had been okay, if it were you.

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,979)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Modals

Ant_222

#419780 Sun, 16 Sep 07 11:29 PM

Jacksoon:

Hope, you don't mind if I try to help.

«Don't you think red and brown statements are in contradiction to each other? The red statements tell that help was received, while the brown statements point out that help wasn't received.»

«You didn't tell me that it was your friend who needed help. Man, I hate him and you know it. I wouldn't have done that if I had known it was not for you.»

This part (red) indeed says that help has been proveded, but the speaker expresses his unwillingness to do that. He didn't feel good when helping.

«It would have been okay, if it was/had been you who needed help. I would happily have helped you.»

And this part tells nothing about whether he helped him or not, it just conveys the thought that the speaker would be very glad to help his friend (instead of helping the friend's friend)

So, the example is not contradictory: the speaker forced himself to help his friend's friend (part one), and then he says he wouldn't have had to force himself if his friend needed help.

You see, Koyeen wanted to put more in his example and complicated it a bit.

Ant_222

Jackson6612

#419785 Sun, 16 Sep 07 11:32 PM

CalifJim wrote:
Jackson,

The modals are can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must.

The bare infinitive of to have is have -- not has or had or having.

All modals must be followed by a bare infinitive.

You should now be able to answer your own question very easily.

Which of the following sentences is correct?

1: It would have been okay, if it were you.

2: It would had been okay, if it were you.

CJ

Thanks a lot for such a precise reply, CJ. I get you point, therefore ''would have been'' is the correct expression.

Jackson6612

Expressions, Modals

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