Search results for 'tag:Interviews tag:Conditionals' matching tags 'Interviews' and 'Conditionals'

Re: He/she/it + were

MrPedantic — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:07:53 GMT

As a footnote:

1. If he were here now, he would be able to answer the question.

2. If she were a little bigger, she wouldn't be quite so small.

The "were" in these examples is called the "past subjunctive". The past subjunctive is used principally in conditional (hypothetical) statements, such as #1 and #2.

Whereas the "normal" past singular is "was" ("I was", "he was", etc.), in the past subjunctive the form is the same ("were") in both singular and plural. (The seemingly odd form derives from the Old English past subjunctive.)

Especially in BrE, it is very common to hear "was" instead of "were", e.g.

3. If he was here now, he would be able to answer the question.

4. If she was a little bigger, she wouldn't be quite so small.

For instance, I heard David Cameron (the leader of the main British opposition party) say in an interview this evening,

5. If I was in the Prime Minister's shoes, I would do XYZ.

(Sorry, I can't remember what he would do, unfortunately. I think it involved sacking someone.)

MrP

Re: Verbs-which is the correct word

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:26:59 GMT

Marius Hancu wrote:
1. If he (was, were) over 18, he would have been hired.

were is better than was, but still not the best (see further).

My take:

If he had been over 18 ... is ok because it's an unreal condition in the past, eg. at the moment of the interview.

BUT ...

If he were over 18 ... is also ok if he's still under 18, because it's a condition still unreal at this moment.

AND ...

The use of this type of mixed conditional is fine when if + past simple ... would + present perfect = an unreal condition in the present (NOT in the past) ... a consequence in the past.

The same site you quoted provides a reference : http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/mixedconditional.html

Re: Difference between would and will?

Marius Hancu — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:22:49 GMT

IMO, this is indirect/reported speech (said) and conditionals (would)

In direct speech, Solvedt says at the time of the interview:
"I think that Denpack turnover would double within five years from today. "
(I don't think he's certain about it)

In reported speech in the past:
Last year Solvedt told one interviewer that Denpack's turnover would have doubled within a five-year period from the time of their discussion.

-------------
After past reporting verbs, conditional sentences referring to "unreal" situations are often reported with past conditionals.

Direct: If I had any money I'd buy you a drink.
Indirect: She said if she had had any money she would have bought me a drink. ( or She said if she had any money she would buy ...)

Swan, Practical English Usage, p. 482
--------------

Re: Would -politeness

MrPedantic — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 08:29:30 GMT

Jack112 wrote:

I don't get it. Is 'would' or 'will' correct here? If 'will' is wrong, how come the conditional rule doesn't work here?

1. If they can give me an ineterview, that would be nice. (How is 'would' used here?)

2 . If they can give me an ineterview, that will be nice.

Thanks.

Hello Jack

Another alternative is:

3. If they gave me an interview, it would be nice.

'It' seems more idiomatic than 'that', after a comma. With 'that', a dash or ellipsis would be more usual, to show that the pronoun referred to the whole preceding phrase:

4. If only they can give me an interview...Now that would be nice!

It may help, in terms of the 'rules' for conditionals, if you look at the meaning of the sentence first. The 'rules' work best with genuinely conditional IF statements, where one thing leads to another, e.g.

5. If X happened, Y would happen.

6. If X happens, Y will happen.

Here, the point of the statement is the fact that Y is a consequence of X.

In your IF statement #1, however, the main clause is a comment on the IF clause. You can't say that the IF clause is a condition of the main clause; instead, the main clause describes the possible event in the IF clause â it would be 'nice'.

In such cases, the 'rules' don't necessarily apply.

MrP

Re: Would -politeness

jack112 — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 00:36:39 GMT

Eimai_Anglos wrote:
QUOTE: 1. If they can give me an ineterview, that would be nice. (How is 'would' used here?) "Would" is used to express doubt. "If they can give me an interview, that would be nice, but they probably can't."

So 'would' is not a conditional here?

Re: Please help with gramma and wording of this letter !

anon1 — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 04:20:44 GMT

Tess,

I think your letter is very good. I don't have much to add or correct.

November 2004

Mr. First name Middle name Last name
Interim District Director of Services Note the spelling change
126 Northpoint Dr
Houston, Texas 77060

Re: follow up Adjust Status

Dear Mr. Last name:

My name is Eddie Last name. I am an American citizen who married with Thai lady in August 21, 2001 (the Marriage License attached). In January 3, 2002, we filed form I-485, an application to Permanent Residence for my wife (the receipts attached). After that we have been waiting for almost 2 years and finally filed Form G-14 requesting for information on the status of my wife and you were kindly answered us (your letter attached).

A few months ago, we were informed by an American â Thai couple, who married about a year after us.[1] His wife First name Last name, A# 1234567 already had an interviewed and also has conditional green card.[2] We are so skeptical about what went wrong with our case and trying to do our research from the INS website.[3] We found the latest information about Houston TX Processing dates, Posted October 14, 2004 (the paper attached). Please see the highlight for form I-485 and processing time. It will be 3 years in January 2005 that our case have been pending and we feel that we should be able to schedule an appointment for interview long time ago.

[4]

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best Regards,

Signature

My First name Last name

Encl.
1. a copy of Marriage License
2. a copy of receipts from ins for I-485
3. a copy of your letter dated Oct. 17, 2003
4. the paper shows District Office Processing Dates for Houston TX Posted October 14, 2004

Notes:

1) A few months ago, we we spoke with another American â Thai couple, who married about a year after us.

Your original sentence doesn't say what you were informed of. In other words, what did you learn?

2) His wife First name Last name, A# 1234567 already had an interview and also has conditional green card.

Just changed "interviewed" to "interview".

3) We are so skeptical about what went wrong with our case and trying to do our research from the INS website.

I am going to change the tone of your sentence here, but I hope that I will achieve the same goal.

We want and need to better understand the process so that we can ensure that our application is processed as soon as possible. We have been trying our best to do our research from the INS website.

4) You're missing a paragraph, I think.

Please advise us as to how we can best move our application forwards. As you can appreciate, we are very eager to begin our lives together here in Houston. To our knowledge, we have followed all the proper steps and protocol. I look forward to receiving your instructions along with an expected timeline of when I can expect to have finalized all the remaining details. You might need to fix this paragraph to reflect your desires. As it stands now, you don't say in your letter what you want. You need to make that abundantly clear.

I hope this helps. Come back if further assistance is wanted.

Good luck.

MountainHiker

Please help with gramma and wording of this letter !

tess_tx — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 02:53:49 GMT

I found your website from google. I take a look at your writting section and found that they are very heplful. Below is my formal letter to US Citizenship and Immigration Service. I need somebody helps with grammatical and wording. It quite long, please take your time. Thank you very much.

November 2004

Mr. First name Middle name Last name
Interim District Dorector of Services
126 Northpoint Dr
Houston, Texas 77060

Re: follow up Adjust Status

Dear Mr. Last name:

My name is Eddie Last name. I am an American citizen who married with Thai lady in August 21, 2001 (the Marriage License attached). In January 3, 2002, we filed form I-485, an application to Permanent Residence for my wife (the receipts attached). After that we have been waiting for almost 2 years and finally filed Form G-14 requesting for information on the status of my wife and you were kindly answered us (your letter attached).

A few months ago, we were informed by an American â Thai couple, who married about a year after us. His wife First name Last name, A# 1234567 already had an interviewed and also has conditional green card. We are so skeptical about what went wrong with our case and trying to do our research from the INS website. We found the latest information about Houston TX Processing dates, Posted October 14, 2004 (the paper attached). Please see the highlight for form I-485 and processing time. It will be 3 years in January 2005 that our case have been pending and we feel that we should be able to schedule an appointment for interview long time ago.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best Regards,

Signature

My First name Last name

Encl.
1. a copy of Marriage License
2. a copy of receipts from ins for I-485
3. a copy of your letter dated Oct. 17, 2003
4. the paper shows District Office Processing Dates for Houston TX Posted October 14, 2004