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By Conditionals, Past perfect

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Re: Would have died...

SeekerOfPeace wrote:In the following sentence:"The local peasants gave the soldiers clothes and food without which they would have died of cold and hunger.I know the answer is "would have died" but I can't explain it grammatically.It looks like subjunctive to me, but which kind is it?"Without...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Philip 1 yr 144 days ago Clauses Past perfect Subjunctives Conditionals
Re: If I were in your shoes, I would have killed him.

Actually it is the right way of saying it! There's something called MIXED conditionals, and "if i were in your shoes, i would've killed him" is a perfect example. Type 2 Conditional, as Conchita57 meantioned, refers to an unreal situation in the present/future. So when you say "if i were...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Marcelle 1 yr 147 days ago Verbs Past perfect Past simple Conditionals Mixed conditionals
Re: If I were in your shoes, I would have killed him.

Conchita57 wrote:This is not the usual combination of tenses in conditional sentences. You could say either:'If I were in your shoes, I would kill him' (unreal situation in the present/future)or:'If I had been in your shoes, I would have killed him' (unreal situation in the past). Actually it...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Anonymous 1 yr 147 days ago Verbs Tenses Past perfect Past simple Conditionals Mixed conditionals
Re: Had he a dog? vs. Did he have a dog?

To my knowledge, the "question" form if-clause is mostly used in type III conditional expressing unrealized situations. The past perfect is used: Had he had a dog, he would feed it on sirloin.

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Buddhaheart 1 yr 161 days ago Clauses Past perfect Conditionals
Re: ours/go through

No, I wouldn't say that you should use the past perfect. It doesn't seem necessary at all. The first went is a backshift for the if clause, so it's in present time, just like the final noun clause (what it's like). Using the past perfect in the noun clause (what he went through) would seem to...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by CalifJim 1 yr 174 days ago Clauses Nouns Past perfect Conditionals
Re: Past perfect X simple past X past perfect continuous

Magic79 wrote: 1. While he had been reading the book, his uncle came back. past perfect progressive + simple past What do you think of the following sentence: a. While he was reading the book, his uncle...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by MrPedantic 1 yr 235 days ago Past perfect Simple past Conditionals Perfect progressive
Past perfect - how often do native speakers REALLY use it?

How often do you, native speakers, really use the past perfect tense in spoken communication? (Not counting the 3rd conditional, of course)I ask myself this question whenever I see textbook sentences like:1. When he arrived, Eve wasn't there. She had left about five minutes before.2. I went to...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Anonymous 1 yr 273 days ago Tenses Past perfect Conditionals
Re: Verbs-which is the correct word

1. If he (was, were) over 18, he would have been hired. You need were here, as it's a contrary-to-the-fact assertion (he wasn't over 18), esp in formal contexts. I mean were is better than was, but still not the best (see further). See: --------- EXCEPTION If I...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Marius Hancu 1 yr 278 days ago Verbs Conversations Tenses Past perfect Conditionals

Re: Answers in a questionnaire

Pastsimple wrote:Hi,one of the questions you can often find in a questionnaire is "What is your greatest achievement?" People use different grammar structures/tenses etc. when they're answering, e.g.:gerund: losing weight / surviving a tough childhood / etc...present perfect: (that) I've lost...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by

Goodman 1 yr 296 days ago

Grammar Tenses Past perfect Gerunds Universities Present perfect Past simple Conditionals Marriage Images

Answers in a questionnaire

Hi,one of the questions you can often find in a questionnaire is "What is your greatest achievement?" People use different grammar structures/tenses etc. when they're answering, e.g.:gerund: losing weight / surviving a tough childhood / etc...present perfect: (that) I've lost weight / (that)...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Pastsimple 1 yr 296 days ago Grammar Tenses Past perfect Gerunds Universities Present perfect Past simple Conditionals