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Thread: Is "he would have come" past tense of "He will come" or "He would come" ?

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    Default Is "he would have come" past tense of "He will come" or "He would come" ?

    In the three sentences below,
    1.He will come.
    2.He would come.
    3.He would have come (If he hadn't been busy).

    Is 3 past tense of 1 or 2?
    As I know, 2 has less chance(70~90%) than 1(90~100% probability),
    so does 3 reflect the past of 1 or 2? I mean does 3 have 70~90% or 90~100%?
    What is the function of "would" in "would have come"? Is it merely a presumtion or both presumtion and willingness?.

    I mean if the below is true.
    1.He would have come = He probably tried to come.(presumtion+willingness)
    2.He would have come = He probably came.(presumtion only)

    I hope someone can understand my question. Thank you!

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    5jj
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    Default Re: Is "he would have come" past tense of "He will come" or "He would come" ?

    Quote Originally Posted by keannu View Post
    In the three sentences below,
    1.He will come.
    2.He would come.
    3.He would have come (If he hadn't been busy).

    Is 3 the past tense of 1 or 2? Neither.

    As I know, 2 has less chance(70~90%) than 1(90~100% probability),
    so does 3 reflect the past of 1 or 2? I mean does 3 have 70~90% or 90~100%? It really does not help to try to assign certainties as percentages. We don't know exactly what is going on in the speaker's mind. Also, it is impossible to say what #1 and #2 mean without more context. For example, in the sentence below, 'he would come' reports a factual situation.

    "When he was younger, he would come to my study every Friday evening with a new poem he had written."

    What is the function of "would" in "would have come"? Is it merely a presumption or both presumption and willingness?.

    I mean if the below is true.
    1.He would have come = He probably tried to come. No. There is no suggestion of 'trying'. (presumption+willingness) Not necessarily
    2.He would have come = He probably came.(presumption only)No - He didn't come.
    In my examples below, I use 'I' to refer to the speaker.

    'He will come.'
    I am certain about his future coming.
    or
    He is willing to come in the future.
    or
    I insist on his future coming.
    or
    He insists on coming as a matter of habit, or on a future occasion.

    That's four different possible meanings with just 'will' - no 'would', 'have', or 'if''.

    It's impossible to answer your questions briefly when we have just short examples and no context.
    bhaisahab and anhnha like this.

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