would have been

Status
Not open for further replies.

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Hi guys,

Would have done is used for the past imaginations, so if there is a tv serial that is no longer broadcasted on tv, so can I say "Flop show would have been the first tv serial which got released(or can I say that would have been released) with such weird name"
 

probus

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
"Would have" {not "done"} is used for{not the} past imaginations, so if there is a TV serial that is no longer broadcast on TV, {omit so} can I say "Flop show would have been the first TV serial which got released with such a weird name? (or can I say that would have been released) You might, but the other sequence of tenses is preferable in my opinion.
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Please help native speakers
 

Roman55

Key Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
France
I am not a teacher.

I wouldn't say, "Flop show would have been the first tv serial..." unless it wasn't.

Your example is of a (hypothetical) TV serial "that is no longer broadcast". Therefore it was broadcast. It either was or wasn't "the first TV serial which got released with such a weird name."
 

Boris Tatarenko

Senior Member
Joined
May 6, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Probus is a native speaker.:-D:-D

Whoops! Barb has already said it. :oops:
 
Last edited:

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
But I want to say that I am not sure I am just assuming that it was so in that case I think "would have been" is appropriate.
 

Boris Tatarenko

Senior Member
Joined
May 6, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Did you read post #2?
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
But I am not aware weather any other serial got released with this kind of weird name or not.
 

Roman55

Key Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
France
I am not a teacher.

In that case,

"Flop show may have been the first TV serial..."
 

Weaver67

Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Roman55:
I wouldn't say, "Flop show would have been the first tv serial..." unless it wasn't.

Your example is of a (hypothetical) TV serial "that is no longer broadcast". Therefore it was broadcast. It either was or wasn't "the first TV serial which got released with such a weird name."

Tufguy:
But I am not aware weather any other serial got released with this kind of weird name or not.

Yes, there may have been a lot of shows released with this kind of wierd name. Nevertheless, "the first show with such a wierd name" suggests that after the first show none of the names was so/that wierd. Or, in other words, the first show had such a wierd name that none seemed so wierd afterwards.
 
Last edited:

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
So we can't use "would have been" instead of "may have been"? I think you are saying if I used "would have been" that would sound like this show could have been a weird name show, is it correct?
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I can't understand your question at this point.

There was a show named "Flop." You know this to be true. You also know other shows have aired since then that also had weird names. "Flop was the first show to air such a weird name."

There was show named "Flop." You knw this to be true. You are not sure whether there were other shows BEFORE that with such a strange name. There have been other weird names since. "Flop may have been the first show to air such a weird name."

There was a show named "Flop" but it never did air. There were others shows since then with weird names. "It would have been the first show with such a weird name."
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Yes, there may have been a lot of shows released with this kind of wierd name. Nevertheless, "the first show with such a wierd name" suggests that after the first show none of the names was so/that wierd. Or, in other words, the first show had such a wierd name that none seemed so wierd afterwards.

One reason that "weird" is weird is that it is an exception to the "i before e except after c" rule.
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
So, now I got it if, I knew that there was a show with a weird name but it never got released so then I can say "It would have been the first weird name show, if it had been released, but if it was released then I can say "It may have been the first weird name show".
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Still not right.
If you know there was nothing before it and it did air, it was the first. Not "may have been."
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
If it got released but there were other serials also so I can say "This was the first serial to be aired" but if it got released and I am unaware of the airing of the other weird shows than I can say "It may have been", but if it never got released and other serials came out with weird names I can say "It would have been", is it fine now?
 

Roman55

Key Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
France
If it got released (first) but there were other serials also so I can say "This was the first serial to be aired" but if it got released and I am unaware of the airing of the other weird shows than I can say "It may have been", but if it never got released and other serials came out with weird names I can say "It would have been", is it fine now?

I am not a teacher.

Like this it is fine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top