if..+ tense (II)

[Unregistered]

hello,

1. If you could study in the UK, you sure must have a lot of money
2. If you can study in the UK, you sure must have a lot of money.

Do these both sentences mean , "you're rich, hence you are in the UK for your studies"?
if it's not the case, how should i formulate my sentence?
Is there a difference between can and could in the examples given?

Thanks

[bhaisahab]

hello,

1. If you could study in the UK, you sure must have a lot of money
2. If you can study in the UK, you sure must have a lot of money.

Do these both sentences mean , "you're rich, hence you are in the UK for your studies"? No, they they are speculating that if it is the case that you can afford to study in the UK, then you must be rich.
if it's not the case, how should i formulate my sentence? Try: "It's because you are rich that you can afford to study in the UK.
Is there a difference between can and could in the examples given? Yes, there is a difference, the first one with "could" is not really correct.

Thanks

.

[mmasny]

Wouldn't the 'could' sentence be correct if the person had studied in the past?

[bhaisahab]

Wouldn't the 'could' sentence be correct if the person had studied in the past?

"If you could study in the UK, you sure must have had a lot of money."
It would be ok like this, if it were referring to the past.

[mmasny]

"If you could study in the UK, you sure must have had a lot of money."
It would be ok like this, if it were referring to the past.

I agree. But I'm still unsure. Couldn't the speaker mean that the former student must generally have plenty of money? As in:
- Look at my car. Do you like it?
- You must have a lot of money if you could buy this one!

If the person graduated recently, I think I can imagine the speker saying that.

[bhaisahab]

I agree. But I'm still unsure. Couldn't the speaker mean that the former student must generally have plenty of money? As in:
- Look at my car. Do you like it?
- You must have a lot of money if you could buy this one!

If the person graduated recently, I think I can imagine the speker saying that.

Do these both sentences mean , "you're rich, hence you are in the UK for your studies"?
if it's not the case, how should i formulate my sentence?
If you read the OPs post, he seems to want to say something quite different.

[mmasny]

Do these both sentences mean , "you're rich, hence you are in the UK for your studies"?
if it's not the case, how should i formulate my sentence?
If you read the OPs post, he seems to want to say something quite different.

Oh, right. It certainly doesn't mean what the OP wanted it to mean (can I omit the last 'mean' in this sentence?).
I only wanted to make sure the sentence is correct grammatically.

[bhaisahab]

Oh, right. It certainly doesn't mean what the OP wanted it to mean (can I omit the last 'mean' in this sentence?).
I only wanted to make sure the sentence is correct grammatically.

You could omit the last mean, but I like it like it is.
Yes it is grammatical, but there is something about it that I don't like.