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Thread: Really Mixed Conditionals
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#11 05-Jul-2004, 10:39
If he is such a good doctor he would have diagnesed the illness, because if he wasn't he may have not known anything about that sort of illness.
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#12 07-Jul-2004, 00:26
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#13 07-Jul-2004, 00:26Welcome to our friendly forum!
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sylvia philobosGuest#14 27-Apr-2005, 20:58
Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
if he were/ had been such a good doctor, he would have diagnosed the disease.
this means that he is not a good doctor that is why he could not diagnose the disease.
this is correct if you want to follow the rule. However I think the one with should makes sense because that is what is expected from a good doctor.Last edited by sylvia philobos; 27-Apr-2005 at 21:00.
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#15 19-Jun-2005, 07:38Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
So.... what is the final verdict? I was more comfortable with no.1, but after reading all your comments, I'm not sure anymore!!
Originally Posted by sylvia philobos
I think the sentence 'if he had been a good doctor, he would have dignosed the disease' is used in a different situation, an even that happened in a more distant past. It's sort of like talking about a past event, isn't it? e.g. Mary has been suffering from anorexia all these years. She went to see Dr Death last year, and if he had been a good doctor, he would have diagnosed the disease.
Whereas the original question 'if he is/were a good doctor, he should have diagnosed the disease' sounds more like something that just happened recently....
someone... please enlighten me.
Oh, and I'm also a new member. Nice to meet you all!
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#16 19-Jun-2005, 17:38Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
If he is such a good doctor, he should have diagnosed the illness- This is the one I'd use, where he didn't diagnose the illness, but the question about his medical ability is current.
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#17 12-Apr-2006, 09:21Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
So, the right answer is the one 1
What a pity!
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#18 13-Apr-2006, 07:20Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
It's a rare and very mixed conditional.
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#19 21-May-2006, 10:28Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
Both imply that the man is not a very good doctor. (I'm good at stating the obvious
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I think that "He should have" is more critical of the man's abilities than "He would have", that though may be due to my Glasgow dialect.
Last edited by Hamburg; 21-May-2006 at 10:36.
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#20 08-Jun-2006, 12:28 Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
Hi, I'm new here. I agree with Iain (good Scottish spelling!) that were (or was) would be more usual in the 'if' part, because we obviously have our doubts. To me 'If he is such a good doctor' is more likely to lead into a question than a conditional; i.e. 'If he is such a good doctor, why didn't he diagnose the illness?' But I can't say that either sounds totally wrong.
Re: Really Mixed Conditionals
