[Grammar] Will for past certainty

[Waawe]

Hi,

Can we say They will have been at home, I saw the lights on, using will have been to describe past certainty? Or He will have passed the exam, he had been revising hard.

If will is correct in the examples, could we as well use would in place of will without changing the meaning?

Thank you!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi,

Can we say They will have been at home, I saw the lights on, using will have been to describe past certainty?

Either way is grammatical, but They were home. I saw the lights on. is more natural.

Or He will have passed the exam, he had been revising hard.

It depends.

If you don't actually know whether he passed but think he probably did, you can say: He should have passed the exam. He was studying hard.

If you do know he passed, you can say: He passed the exam. He had studied hard.

(I don't know why you say revising.)

If will is correct in the examples, could we as well use would in place of will without changing the meaning?

No. Will and would do not mean the same thing.

Thank you!

You're welcome!

 

[GoesStation]

(I don't know why you say revising.)

It's British English for what we Americans call studying.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It's British English for what we Americans call studying.

Glad I asked. Carry on, Waawe!

 

[emsr2d2]

Can we say They will have been at home, I saw the lights on, using will have been to describe past certainty? Or He will have passed the exam, he had been revising hard.

If will is correct in the examples, could we as well use would in place of will without changing the meaning? No. "would" changes the meaning.

You can but both contain a comma splice. Replace the comma with a semi-colon.

 

[jutfrank]

Your examples are not brilliant, but yes, in principle you can use will to express certainty about past states and events.

No, would cannot express the same meaning.

 

[Waawe]

Will expresses the speaker's present certainty about situations that can be in past, present or future time. The time is made clear by context and/or other verb forms.

There will be hotels on the moon by 2050.
I will be based in Moscow next year.

Petra's plane took off three hours ago, so she will be flying over India now.
Henry was born three or four years before my mother. I don't know exactly when, but he will be at least 85 now.

John caught the 15.10 from Durham, so he will have arrived in London a couple of hours ago.

How about this one then: He will have passed the exam, meaning: I am sure he has passed the exam. Does it make sense to you? Some respondents above confirm the option, the others not. I am confused. Can we use will in the meaning of I am sure?


Another example to make clear what I mean:

He will have found the letter. = I am sure he has found the letter.
They left too late. They will have missed the train. = I am sure they (have) missed the train.


Is will an option here or not?

Thank you. Waawe

 

[GoesStation]

He will have found the letter. = I am sure he has found the letter.
They left too late. They will have missed the train. = I am sure they (have) missed the train.

Is will an option here or not?

It's not ungrammatical, but native speakers rarely use this construction in speech. You should be able to understand it, but forget about using it.

Thank you. Waawe

We appreciate the sentiment, but we prefer that you refrain from adding closing words of that kind. We normally remove them when we quote posts, and that takes extra time. When you've made ten posts you can add them to your signature line. That will display with every post but isn't part of the message. Thanks!

 

[Waawe]

You can but both contain a comma splice. Replace the comma with a semi-colon.

I haven't been able to find a reliable source on using a comma either online or in grammar books I have. I would even dare to say this aspect of English is highly neglected in ESL books. In my language, we have the rules defined clearly in all situations.

Could you recommend where to go to look into the issue? I would be happy to learn more about them. The native speakers I have consulted actually said they used them intuitively, advising me to leave them out when in doubt. I admit it doesn't suffice, but that is all I got.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I haven't been able to find a reliable source on using a comma either online or in grammar books I have. I would even dare to say this aspect of English is highly neglected in ESL books. In my language, we have the rules defined clearly in all situations.

Could you recommend where to go to look into the issue? I would be happy to learn more about them. The native speakers I have consulted actually said they used them intuitively, advising me to leave them out when in doubt. I admit it doesn't suffice, but that is all I got.

The uses of commas are pretty straightforward. Every grammar book spells them out. Whenever I'm in doubt, I open a grammar book and always find the answer.

Avoid online sources. They aren't as reliable.

 

[Waawe]

The uses of commas are pretty straightforward. Every grammar book spells them out. Whenever I'm in doubt, I open a grammar book and always find the answer.

Avoid online sources. They aren't as reliable.

I dare to disagree. I haven't found one during my studies and I have been searching lots. Can you refer me to one in particular? The problem is no ESL grammar books pay attention to punctuation whatsoever. When you ask a native not specialised in linguistics, they will say there do not know any rules.

Will you send me a reference to one or two grammar books I can buy and pursue my studies?

W.

 

[jutfrank]

You can always ask us on this forum about any punctuation concerns you have. This is the reason we're here. Even when members disagree, we explain our reasoning, which is edifying in itself.

Otherwise, I'd highly recommend this source: https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/punctuation.htm