In Modals^x, Conditionals^x

CalifJim wrote The sentence is complicated by the fact that you can make the past of can by using could but you have to make the past of must by using must have And must have been is not a past perfect tense by the way It s one of the modal perfect tenses most of which have special uses Let s...

Hi Bokeh Becasue of your reply it made me take a second look at the original question I also did some research and found this paper written on the subject of Semantic Composition of Subjunctive Conditionals by Michela Ippolito of MIT Tübingen University I am not completely sure if I understood...

1 would is the modal used for the consequent clause of a conditional structure If that suit were navy blue I would buy it If that suit were black with gray pin stripes I would like it better If it were gray I would like that suit better The condition if clause is implicit not explicit in the...

CalifJim wrote Yes Mess is a good description I must admit you ve got my head spinning with these examples I need a nap Sorry I didn t mean to poison you with my lethal examples Anyway now I know that the past tense of should is still should let s say I also notice that it s true that modal...

Ah I see I see it s a mess Yes Mess is a good description I must admit you ve got my head spinning with these examples I need a nap the main point is understanding the way modals are reported will gt would would gt would can gt could could gt could should gt should may gt might might gt might...

Ah I see I see it s a mess In Italian the situation is different You say it s important whether something is counterfactual or not well that s strange For example you can say She said she was American even if she is still American that is backshifting has nothing to do with the real situation But...

I see Mr P s point The compound tenses in English have a very strong counterfactual reading especially with modals which may or may not be true in Italian Because of this I think there is less of a tendency to pull in these compound tenses for non counterfactual meanings in English than in...

Thank you MrPedantic Maybe you ve seen I also posted my last post in a new thread CalifJim replied and everything seemed ok to him Maybe there are some differences and preferences between British and American English For example this sentence it s the one about vegetables only modified a little...

Hello Kooyeen 1 I d like to go to Jenny s party gt He said he would like to go to Jenny s party I would say this is ok only if Jenny hasn t had the party yet It s also possible that someone would say this if the party had already happened but I think your interpretation is more likely 2 I d like...

I succeded in editing my post despite you already replied how strange anyway I forgot to write After a month Thank you for your opinions I really needed someone to check those sentences The fact is that most grammar books and websites are misleading I found no websites that explained that they...