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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sowbug who wrote (868)	2/1/1998 2:15:00 PM
From: Jack Clarke	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4710

Hi Sowbug, I promised much earlier that I would comment on your peeve involving the incorrect use of "would" in conditional sentences. I did post something about this much earlier on the thread, and I can't find it. I'll rephrase your examples: Incorrect: If I would have known she was a liar, I would not have pursued her allegations.(Apologies to current references) Correct: If I had known she was a liar, I would not have pursued her allegations. I don't know why this particular incorrect usage has become so widespread, but I suspect it may be here to stay. Discussion of the construction from a grammatical standpoint is difficult and complex, but I will try. Aside from the changes of language and the general disappearance of the subjunctive mood, we also have problems arising from tense sequence and the confusion of the use of the verb "to have" in its possessive sense (owning something) as opposed to its use as a verbal auxiliary. Throw in the various present and past forms of the modal auxiliaries -- may/might, will/would, shall/should, etc. and you start to get messy. I make no apologies for "glazing over" of eyes. I will simplify this discussion by confining my remarks that form of conditional sentence which is contrary to fact. Other forms (practical condition and theoretical condition) are less used and would confuse. Every conditional sentence consists of two parts: 1. The "if" clause (protasis), which is not factual. 2. The dependent or subordinate clause, or conclusion (apodosis). For a straightforward present tense unreal condition, we employ the simple past subjunctive in clause #1, and in the conclusion, we use "would" or "should". Ex: If she were telling the truth, I would know it. If her father were here and saw this, he would be upset. When we are referring to unreal conditions in past time, the "if" clause takes the past perfect subjunctive. The conclusion takes the same auxiliary used as above for the present tense, but the infinitive form in the dependent clause must be in the perfect tense instead of the present: Ex: If she had been telling the truth, I would have known it. If she had told me sooner, I might have been able to help her. There are a zillion other variations and transitional uses which I won't go into, such as "I had sooner...", "It were better..." etc. Best regards, Jack