going to make=would make or would have made?

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ostap77

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She grined at him, a shark's grin. "If I'd had an opportunity, I was going to make a play."

Would "I was going to make a play." mean "I would make a play" or "I would have made a play"?
 

emsr2d2

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She grined at him, a shark's grin. "If I'd had an opportunity, I was going to make a play."

Would "I was going to make a play." mean "I would make a play" or "I would have made a play"?

It's closer to "I would have made ..."
 

ostap77

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To refer to unreal past, right? Is it colloquial?
 

emsr2d2

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To refer to unreal past, right? Is it colloquial?

Well, if by "unreal past" you mean it's something that didn't happen, then yes. By saying "If I'd had an opportunity ...", the implication is that I didn't have the opportunity and therefore, I didn't make the play.

Is what colloquial?
 

ostap77

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"............,I was going to make a play" for "............,I would have made a play"?
 

emsr2d2

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I don't know what the context of the piece you were quoting was. In some sports, you can say that you made a play and it's a perfectly normal, acceptable phrase. You can "make a play for someone", meaning that you flirt with them, ask them out on a date or something similar. That would probably be described as colloquial but, as always, it depends on context.
 

ostap77

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I've not come across such a conditional sentence in grammar text books. Is it acceptable in writing?
 
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