Really Mixed Conditionals

If he is such a good doctor he would have diagnesed the illness, because if he wasn't he may have not known anything about that sort of illness.

[RonBee]

Welcome to our friendly forum!

[RonBee]

Welcome to our friendly forum!

if he were/ had been such a good doctor, he would have diagnosed the disease.

this means that he is not a good doctor that is why he could not diagnose the disease.
this is correct if you want to follow the rule. However I think the one with should makes sense because that is what is expected from a good doctor.

[neurobotanist]

Originally Posted by sylvia philobos

if he were/ had been such a good doctor, he would have diagnosed the disease.

this means that he is not a good doctor that is why he could not diagnose the disease.
this is correct if you want to follow the rule. However I think the one with should makes sense because that is what is expected from a good doctor.

So.... what is the final verdict? I was more comfortable with no.1, but after reading all your comments, I'm not sure anymore!!

I think the sentence 'if he had been a good doctor, he would have dignosed the disease' is used in a different situation, an even that happened in a more distant past. It's sort of like talking about a past event, isn't it? e.g. Mary has been suffering from anorexia all these years. She went to see Dr Death last year, and if he had been a good doctor, he would have diagnosed the disease.

Whereas the original question 'if he is/were a good doctor, he should have diagnosed the disease' sounds more like something that just happened recently....

someone... please enlighten me.

Oh, and I'm also a new member. Nice to meet you all!

neurobotanist

[Tdol]

If he is such a good doctor, he should have diagnosed the illness- This is the one I'd use, where he didn't diagnose the illness, but the question about his medical ability is current.

[Isra]

So, the right answer is the one 1
What a pity!

[Tdol]

It's a rare and very mixed conditional.

[Hamburg]

Both imply that the man is not a very good doctor. (I'm good at stating the obvious )

I think that "He should have" is more critical of the man's abilities than "He would have", that though may be due to my Glasgow dialect.

[will peters]

Hi, I'm new here. I agree with Iain (good Scottish spelling!) that were (or was) would be more usual in the 'if' part, because we obviously have our doubts. To me 'If he is such a good doctor' is more likely to lead into a question than a conditional; i.e. 'If he is such a good doctor, why didn't he diagnose the illness?' But I can't say that either sounds totally wrong.