Simple questions about tenses...

[Pham Duc Minh Anh]

Dear teachers, I have several questions to ask you .

1. What is the difference between:
- What would happen if America attacked Iran?
- What would have happened if America attacked Iran?
- What will happen if America attacks Iran?
- What happens if America attacks Iran? (I am not sure if this structure is correct, but I hear people saying this way a lot).

2. Is it correct to write:
- If I travelled to Iran and say that I am American...
- If I travelled to Iran and say that I was American...
- If I travel to Iran and say that I am American...

3. In British English, is it correct to write:
- If I were your classmate... (in American English this seems to be correct).
- If I was your classmate...
- If he were your classmate...
- If he was your classmate...
- If they were your classmates...

Thank you very much ;-). From a native English speaker .

 

[emsr2d2]

You said it yourself - you have several questions to ask us. Please don't ask them all in the same thread. It is very confusing. Please make the three separate sections into three separate threads and then people can deal with them individually. Thanks.

 

[5jj]

Welcome to the forum, Pham Doc Minh Anh. :hi:

I'll look at the first group of questions.. I suggest you start new threads for the others. As emsr2d2 said, too many questions in one thread can be confusing.

1. What is the difference between:
- What would happen if America attacked Iran? This is a question about a hypothetical future situation.
- What would have happened if America had attacked Iran? A question about a hypothetical, counterfactual past situation. America did not attack Iran.
- What will happen if America attacks Iran? A question about a future situation seen as a real possibility.
- What happens if America attacks Iran? This conveys a very similar idea to that of the the previous sentence.

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, Pham Doc Minh Anh. :hi:

As emsr2d2 said, too many questions in one thread can be confusing.

. . .and please give your threads helpful titles, such as If I travelled to Iran and If I were your classmate.

Rover