[Grammar] If i knew it was your birthday, I would bring

[Roktim]

1. If i knew it was your birthday, I would bring you a present.
2. If i had known it was your birthday, I would have brought you a present.

Are they correct? What's the difference between them?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. If I knew it was your birthday, I would bring you a present.
2. If I had known it was your birthday, I would have brought you a present.

Are they correct?

The first one is.

What's the difference between them?

One is right, and the other is wrong.

In if/then sentences, the verb tenses should be the same on both sides of the comma.

 

[GoesStation]

With Charlie's fixes, they're both correct in the right context.

Always capitalize the word "I". It's incorrect otherwise.

 

[jutfrank]

Both sentences are correct. The difference is that sentence 1 is a second conditional and sentence 2 is a third conditional.

For more information about them, see here: https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/conditional-sentences-in-english-5.html

 

[emsr2d2]

Roktim, please note that I have changed your thread title. Titles should be unique and relevant to the thread, and must include some/all of the words/phrases you are asking us about. Please bear this in mind for future threads.

 

[Tarheel]

1. If i knew it was your birthday, I would bring you a present.
2. If i had known it was your birthday, I would have brought you a present.

Are they correct? What's the difference between them?

In the case of the second one, the person's birthday has already passed and I (as the speaker) am saying what I would have done had I known about it beforehand.

As for the first one, the person is perhaps speaking in general terms.

 

[Tarheel]

Picky picky picky!
;-)

More than likely the chance for buying the person a birthday present has passed.

 

[emsr2d2]

For me, the fact that the original used "bring/brought" makes it very unlikely that it's being said on any day other than the actual birthday. If I found out I had missed someone's birthday by a day/week/month, I might say "If I'd known it was your birthday, I'd have bought you a present". I note that Tarheel's response in post #9 specifically refers to buying a present.

I would use "If I'd known it was your birthday, I'd have brought you a present" only if I was in the company of the person in question, it was their birthday that day, and there was no opportunity to get them anything. The most relevant of those three conditions is that I'm actually with the person when I find out it's their birthday. I would have brought the present to them. I could be at work with them, or at college, or at a tennis lesson - but we would have to be together.

On the topic of "buy", though, I tend to avoid using that verb when talking to someone about a present for them. I try not to involve any mention of money. I'd use "What can I get you for your birthday?" or "I can't decide what to get you for Christmas".

 

[jutfrank]

As a fellow Brit, I feel the same way as emsr2d2 about this. If the birthday were in the past, a British person wouldn't use brought. We'd use another verb, like got or given.

I think this is a difference between British and American English. The verb bring is used differently and much more readily in AmE compared to BrE, where it has strict deictic properties. That means it only makes sense to British speakers when it means 'to this place'. I've noticed that such restriction does not apply in American English. Would one of our members please confirm this?

 

[GoesStation]

I can confirm that. For example, I might say "I can't believe she brought Jell-O salad to the potluck!" That's less likely but not impossible if I hadn't attended it myself.