Grammar Question /1

[Gymnopédies]

Hi to everyone;

You needn't have told him that because I .......... him myself early tomorrow.

A) was going to see
B) will be able to tell


Which one is correct choice? Please with explanations.


Thanks in advance.

[Anglika]

Hi to everyone;

You needn't have told him that because I .......... him myself early tomorrow.

A) was going to see
B) will be able to tell


Which one is correct choice? Please with explanations.


Thanks in advance.

Before we make suggestions, which would you choose?

[Gymnopédies]

Before we make suggestions, which would you choose?

To my humble opinion, A is a better choice than B.

[David L.]

Correct.
Now, what's wrong with 'B'?

[beascarpetta]

first of all, it somehow feels wrong , apart from the bunch of alliterations
and it's wrong because you can't tie a past tense to a future tense
the events referred to took place in the past so you would have to go on using past or Future Perfect like
You needn't have told him that because I would have told him myself early tomorrow.
it would break the continuity of the time level

[David L.]

You got it.

[riverkid]

first of all, it somehow feels wrong , apart from the bunch of alliterations
and it's wrong because you can't tie a past tense to a future tense
the events referred to took place in the past so you would have to go on using past or Future Perfect like
You needn't have told him that because I would have told him myself early tomorrow.
it would break the continuity of the time level

There is no future perfect as far as I can see, Beascarpetta.

You needn't have told him that because I .......... him myself early tomorrow.

A) was going to see
B) will be able to tell

A) intimates to us that the speaker does not now intend to "see him early tomorrow". B) says the the speaker intends to "tell him early tomorrow" despite what "you" has already said.

While it can be argued that it's a tad strange that the speaker is going to tell him again, there is nothing grammatically wrong with B).

You needn't have told him that because I will be able to tell him myself early tomorrow, and I'll tell it to him accurately.

You needn't have told him that because I will be telling him myself early tomorrow.

You needn't have bought me a present but I'm sure going to enjoy this.

[beascarpetta]

....there is nothing grammatically wrong with B).


You needn't have told him that because I will be able to tell him myself early tomorrow, and I'll tell it to him accurately.

You needn't have told him that because I will be telling him myself early tomorrow.

You needn't have bought me a present but I'm sure going to enjoy this.

Still , I'm afraid I don't agree.

I never said there was . I simply pointed out that you would have to use a "would" construction instead

of a "will" future" and I do apologize for wrongly calling a past conditional a future perfect.
I will be able to tell him myself early tomorrow, and I'll tell it to him accurately.

It might sound okay to you , but it's not grammatically correct

because the main event is linked to the past so you would have to use "would" instead of "will"

[riverkid]

Still , I'm afraid I don't agree.

I never said there was . I simply pointed out that you would have to use a "would" construction instead
[COLOR="Red"]
of a "will" future" and I do apologize for wrongly calling a past conditional a future perfect.

That's no problem, B; when we're intent and focusing on the issue, these things happen to all of us.

I will be able to tell him myself early tomorrow, and I'll tell it to him accurately.

It might sound okay to you , but it's not grammatically correct

because the main event is linked to the past so you would have to use "would" instead of "will"

How does one determine what the "main event" is? Is it because it comes first?

I will be able to tell him myself early tomorrow, and I'll tell it to him accurately so you needn't have told him that.

I don't know where this notion came from that all tenses in a sentence have to be the same. Think about it for a minute. If we were to follow such an idea there would be things that we couldn't say.

Is that not a completely untenable position, that language doesn't offer the
opportunity to express some thoughts?

[beascarpetta]

again, I beg to disagree

I never said all tenses within a sentence have to be the same - that would be a statement bordering on the absurd.

I merely felt that a tense agreement should be observed, that's all there is to it.

by the way , would you really say "I'll tell it to him" ?

How does one determine what the "main event" is? Is it because it comes first?

no, but because it's the main clause and it's about a past event that needn't have happened but

apparently did, although it was not necessary.
If we were to follow such an idea there would be things that we couldn't say.

You'll have to trust me on this that I've managed to express myself quite nicely so far

although remembering my Latin didn't hurt.
Is that not a completely untenable position, that language doesn't offer the opportunity to

express some thoughts?

If I remember correctly,the initial question was about what was wrong with B).