even if others used violence against him.

Does this "used" denote a present counterfactual conditional or a past habitual action? The "colon" seems to make the underlined an appositive, so the time-perspective seems like a present one in the past.
In plain explanation, does it mean "others wouldn't use violence against him, but in an unlikely case that they use violence..."?

gz81
ex)Mahatma Gandhi was a true hero. He had a very important rule for himself: never to use violence in his fights, even if others used violence against him. He continued to fight for the rights of Indians peacefully. And he never used violence all his life.

Your instinct here is correct. The "used" here is the hypothetical subjunctive, because the condition of people using violence against him is not necessarily a given. It's similar to saying "even if others were to use violence against him". It indicates the hypothetical potential for violence, rather than past habitual violence.

The only one doubt here is - even though hypothetical or any kind of conditional depends on the speaker's attitude - that "others suppressing Gandhi" must have liked to use violence.
So such violence would have been easily presumed by Gandhi, so I wonder why he didn't use "use" for possible violence considering the political situation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keannu

The only one doubt here is - even though hypothetical or any kind of conditional depends on the speaker's attitude - that "others suppressing Gandhi" must have liked to use violence Not so much "liked" as having the potential to do so.
So such violence would have been easily presumed by Gandhi, so I wonder why he didn't use "use" for possible violence considering the political situation.

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Gandhi would not use violence as a response to violence. The violence against him had to happen first, and then his reaction was to not use violence. So, the violence against him had to occur in the past in order for him to respond.

You seem to reverse our conversation between me and Cory.
Do you mean this "used" doesn't denote hypothetical subjunctive, but a past habitual action - factual conditional? But "even if" is about non-factual events.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keannu

You seem to reverse our conversation between me and Cory.
Do you mean this "used" doesn't denote hypothetical subjunctive, but a past habitual action - factual conditional? But "even if" is about non-factual events.

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The point is that violence was used against Gandhi and his supporters on several occasions. He, however, had a rule: "never to use violence in his fights, even if others used violence against him" .

So you mean Cory's view is correct or Gilnetter's view is correct? Is "used" a past habitual action, not hypothetical subjuctive? What about "even if"? "Even if" goes with non-factual events.