In Conditionals^x, Past tenses^x

Kooyeen wrote:Hi,good question. I think both are ok. You can use "would have + past participle" to talk about the future too:Not 100% sure though. We better wait for the others My take is this: This is definitely not a past tense construction but conditional of the 3rd kind. If I hadn't...

New2grammar wrote:From what I learned, 'will' must be paired up with the present tense, 'say'. I think it's called Type 1 conditional. And 'would' must be paired up with the past tense,'said' (Type 2 conditional). Thanks for pointing out my mistake on any vs much. I've learned something new. ...

From what I learned, 'will' must be paired up with the present tense, 'say'. I think it's called Type 1 conditional. And 'would' must be paired up with the past tense,'said' (Type 2 conditional). Thanks for pointing out my mistake on any vs much. I've learned something new.

Yankee wrote:No, I wouldn't change to "would spoil" or "would be spoiling". That would be a change to a conditional form of 'will'.Humans will spoil the world and exploit every resource. If animals were more intelligent than us, they'd be the ones that would spoil the world and exploit...

Let's go back to the original sentence: 1. He thought his mother would understand why he was living in Japan only if she saw his life there with her own eyes. If we take this as a literal report, there are two possible "originals": 2. "My mother will understand why I am living in Japan...

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...

How can I use a past conditional when summer hasn't gone by yet?Don't take the name past conditional too seriously. All of these patterns use the past form of verbs, but that does not mean that past time in involved. The past tense form is used to suggest remoteness -- remoteness in time makes...

Yes-- just make clauses, but put them into the past tense for the conditional:'What would you wish for?''I would wish that I found my soul mate and that he were single.'

This is past tense. would can sometimes substitute for used to. In this usage we have the would of habit, not the would of conditional structures. Every day he would wish to become a millionaire. (used to wish) Every day he would wish for a million dollars. (used to wish) Every day he...

Hi Marcelle, Marcelle wrote:I would say # 2 and 4 are the correct ones, 'as if' implies an unreal state, therefore you should use a past tense (refer to 2nd and 3rd conditionals) Yeah, but present tenses are fine too, if not better on second thought. Normally a noun is used after 'like' and...