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Originally Posted by tdol I don't think all uses are wrong. Your examples have a different meaning- the second implies that it was impossible for him to have known, which is a usage I'm OK with. However, many uses are not about different meanings. Where it is the standard meaning with a non-standard form, then there has to be a call made on the issue. In the UK, the usage is fairly minor, so it wouldn't really come across as a regionlism to most people. In the States, it may well be different.  |
Yes, they have a different meaning. I should've made a note of that.
Yes, the second one implies that is was impossible. It's different from the first, but in practice it
might be intended to have the same meaning as the first. It depends on who's speaking and the context.
The idea that the second one implies it was impossible might lead one to ask what "if he
would have known" implies even though we've already recognized this as being incorrect.
if he could have known - if he was able to know - he wasn't able to know
if he would have known - if he was going to know - he was not going to know
Just a thought. I'm
not attempting to justify "if he would've known".
