Wouldn't happen/ Wouldn't have happened.

[Ashraful Haque]

So a person went viral in my country and in an interview she said that she went viral because she did something good. And she continues:

1) If I didn't do anything this wouldn't have happened.
2) If I didn't do anything this wouldn't happen

Are 1 and 2 integrable in this context? And is 1 the '2nd conditional' and 2 'mixed conditional'?

3) If I hadn't done anything this wouldn't have happened.
Is 3 possible as well? And is it 'the 3rd conditional'?

 

[teechar]

So a person went viral in my country and in an interview she said that she went viral because she did something good. And she continues:

People don't go viral; videos can. Amend that part.

1) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't have happened.
2) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't happen.
Are 1 and 2 integrable in this context? And is 1 the '2nd conditional' and 2 'mixed conditional'?

The first one should start with "If I hadn't done anything".
The second one follows the structure of the second conditional.

3) If I hadn't done anything, this wouldn't have happened.
Is 3 possible as well? And is it 'the 3rd conditional'?

Yes and yes.

 

[jutfrank]

Since she's talking about a past result, she should have used the third conditional:

If I hadn't done anything, this wouldn't have happened.

1 and 2 are incorrect.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I think I understand the 3rd conditional quite clearly. Thanks to you guys.

I want to understand 1 and 2 as well:
1) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't have happened.
2) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't happen.

Here's a different context:
I couldn't afford the ring I wanted for my girlfriend, so I had to buy a cheaper one. So I say:
1) If I were rich, I would've bought her that ring.
2) If I were rich, I would buy her that ring.

Which one is it?

 

[GoesStation]

I think I understand the 3rd conditional quite clearly, thanks to you [STRIKE]guys[/STRIKE] folks/helpful people/some other gender-neutral term.

I want to understand 1 and 2 as well:
1) If I [STRIKE]didn't do[/STRIKE] hadn't done anything, this wouldn't have happened.
2) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't happen.:tick:

Here's a different context:
I couldn't afford the ring I wanted for my girlfriend, so I had to buy a cheaper one. So I say:
1) If I were rich, I would've bought her that ring. [I don't like this much, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a native speaker write it.]
2) If I were rich, I would buy her that ring.:tick:

Which one is it?

x

 

[jutfrank]

I want to understand 1 and 2 as well:
1) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't have happened.
2) If I didn't do anything, this wouldn't happen.

Given the context you've provided, both of those are wrong. There's no use trying to understand something that's wrong.

Here's a different context:
I couldn't afford the ring I wanted for my girlfriend, so I had to buy a cheaper one. So I say:
1) If I were rich, I would've bought her that ring.
2) If I were rich, I would buy her that ring.

Which one is it?

1, since you're talking about the past. If you were rich (present), you would have bought her the expensive ring (past).

You would use 2 if you are entertaining the idea of buying her a second ring (which you're not), so only 1 is correct.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

x

Thank you for the answer but I'm a little confused about the 'guys' part. In almost every English movie 'guys' is gender neutral. I remember a movie where a girl says to a group of people combining girls, boys and even a gay person- "Get ready guys"

 

[Ashraful Haque]

1, since you're talking about the past. If you were rich (present), you would have bought her the expensive ring (past).

You would use 2 if you are entertaining the idea of buying her a second ring (which you're not), so only 1 is correct.

1) So I would use 1 If I had already bought her a ring but I not the one I wanted. So may be I'm unhappy and saying to a friend- "If I were rich, I would've bought her that ring instead of this one."

2) I'm standing in front of a jewelry store and saying to a friend- "If I were rich, I would buy her that ring."

 

[jutfrank]

I'm a little confused about the 'guys' part. In almost every English movie 'guys' is gender neutral.

Yes, it usually is, but not always.

It's very clear to me that you were using it in a gender-neutral way. I don't really understand why some of our members here have a problem with it. It's perfectly acceptable and appropriate as far as I'm concerned.

 

[jutfrank]

1) So I would use 1 If I had already bought her a ring but I not the one I wanted. So may be I'm unhappy and saying to a friend- "If I were rich, I would've bought her that ring instead of this one."

Yes.

2) I'm standing in front of a jewelry store and saying to a friend- "If I were rich, I would buy her that ring."

Right.

 

[GoesStation]

Thank you for the answer but I'm a little confused about the 'guys' part. In almost every English movie 'guys' is gender neutral. I remember a movie where a girl says to a group of people combining girls, boys and even a gay person- "Get ready guys"

As a mass noun, and in an expanding number of other cases, guys covers both genders. But in isolation, many of us see it as meaning "males".

This usage is probably changing. Still, some years ago I read a discussion of whether "guys" applied to females as well as males. A young woman said her friends used it for mixed groups and male-only groups. She went on to say "Even guys do it!"

 

[jutfrank]

As a mass noun, and in an expanding number of other cases, guys covers both genders. But in isolation, many of us see it as meaning "males".

This usage is probably changing. Still, some years ago I read a discussion of whether "guys" applied to females as well as males. A young woman said her friends used it for mixed groups and male-only groups. She went on to say "Even guys do it!"

I don't really want to argue this point here, GS, but I do think the fact that someone could read it as meaning 'males' is much to do with the listener belonging to a certain age group. I can confirm that its gender-neutral use is incredibly common and natural among younger speakers. I'm not particularly young myself, but I use it also to refer to groups of only females.

I think the key complicating issue here is the fact that it is still also commonly used to refer to male gender, but context makes that pretty clear.