If I was in the place of that guy I would have come to know about my destiny.

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tufguy

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If I was in place of the person who is coming to meet Ann then I would be very disappointed. I would kill mylyself after reaching home because by the time "I left" or "had left" for home "I would have come" to know about my destiny.

Can we use "would have done" like this if we are talking about a hypothethical situation and want to talk about a finished action? Or do we need to use "past simple" only no matter what we have to describe in an imaginery situation?
 

emsr2d2

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Please try to write a couple of example sentences that you're actually likely to use in real life. I don't know what your first sentence even means.

Also, there is no reason to put the names of tenses in quotation marks and note the correct spelling of "myself" and "imagina​ry".
 

Matthew Wai

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If I were the one who had come to meet Ann, I would have been very disappointed and even killed myself after getting home because I would have known about my destiny by the time I left for home.
 

tufguy

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If I were the one who had come to meet Ann, I would have been very disappointed and even killed myself after getting home because I would have known about my destiny by the time I left for home.

Thank you Mathew for your help and time but it is a hypothetical situation. That person hasn't come yet to meet Ann.
 
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tufguy

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Please try to write a couple of example sentences that you're actually likely to use in real life. I don't know what your first sentence even means.

Also, there is no reason to put the names of tenses in quotation marks and note the correct spelling of "myself" and "imagina​ry".

Sorry, I couldn't come up with any other example. But let me explain you the situation. Ann is a very arrogant girl. She has found a guy on a matramonial site to get married and that guy is coming to meet her. Two of her friends are talking about being the guy (I hope this sentence is correct, is it?) who is coming to meet her. They are imagining what they would do if they were that guy. My question is whether we can use "Would have done" while we talk about imagnary or hypothtical situations like this?

If I was the person who is coming to meet Ann then I would be very disappointed. I would kill myself after reaching home because by the time "I left" or "had left" for home "I would have come" to know about my destiny.
 

Matthew Wai

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If I were the one coming to meet Ann, I would be very disappointed and even kill myself after returning home because I would know about my destiny by the time I leave for home.
 

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I'm going to regret this, I'm sure, but I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this. I want to see if I've understood the hypothetical situation correctly.

Ann has been on a marriage site and found a potential husband (let's call him Bob). Bob is coming to meet Ann. Two of Ann's friends are talking about how they would feel if they were Bob and came to meet Ann for the first time. Their opinion is that Bob would probably be very disappointed when he meets Ann - so disappointed, in fact, that he would kill himself rather than marry her and spend the rest of his life with her. Is that correct? If so, I don't see how you can call those two people Ann's friends - they are being incredibly rude about her.

One of the "friends", in natural English, might say "Poor Bob. If I were him, I'd be so disappointed when I met Ann, I'd go home and consider killing myself rather than spend the rest of my life with her".
 

emsr2d2

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They both work.
 

tufguy

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Thank you Matthew and EMS for your effort and time. But my question is whether we can use "Would have done" while we talk about imagnary or hypothtical situations like this?

I would kill myself after reaching home because by the time "I left" or "had left" for home "I would have come" to know about my destiny.

According to Matthew we cannot use "Would have done" we should stick to "Would" only even if we are talking about a complete action. EMS what is your opinion?


Two of her friends are talking about being the guy who is coming to meet her. Is this sentence correct? I used it in post# 5.
 

emsr2d2

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If you really must, you can say "I'd kill myself when I got home because, by the time I left Ann's house, I would have known what my destiny was."
 

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If I were the one meeting Ann, I would be very disappointed. I'd kill myself when I got home because by then I'd know my destiny.

Can we use "would have done" like this if we are talking about a hypothethical situation and want to talk about a finished action? No.

Or do we need to use "past simple" only no matter what we have to describe in an imaginery situation? I don't understand the question.

I hope that helps!
 

tufguy

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I hope that helps!

My question was whether we just have to stick with past tense or past perfect can be used as well for complete actions in hypothetical situation? Like by the time I left for home "I would have come" to know about my destiny. So I used "would have come" because it is a complete action but you are saying I need to stick to past simple "I would know my destiny", right?
 
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tufguy

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If you really must, you can say "I'd kill myself when I got home because, by the time I left Ann's house, I would have known what my destiny was."

But according to Charlie would have done cannot be used. You both are native speakers now I am confused.
 

emsr2d2

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According to you past tense should be used for hypothetical situations but EMS is saying would have done can be used.

I did not use "would have done" in any of my posts.
 

Matthew Wai

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I'd kill myself when I got home because, by the time I left Ann's house, I would have known what my destiny was.
It is not a conditional sentence, so how could 'got', 'left', and 'was' refer to the future?
 

emsr2d2

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It is not a conditional sentence, so how could 'got', 'left', and 'was' refer to the future?

In my sentence starting with "I'd kill myself ...", there is an implied "If I went to Ann's house" before my opening words.
 

Matthew Wai

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If I were him, I would not go to Ann's house. I would probably go to Mary's when I had time next week.

Does the second sentence count as part of the conditional sentence although there is a full stop in between, so had, the past subjunctive, refers to the future?
 

emsr2d2

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Yes.

What would you do next week if you had time?
If I had time, I would go to Ann's house.

Without "would", we say:

What will you do next week if you have time?
If I have time, I will go to Ann's house.
 
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