Bob saw a new iPhone

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence sounds natural.

Bob saw a new iPhone and his fingers tingled. He promised himself he was going to buy it even if he would starve in the coming months.

 

[teechar]

I am wondering if my sentence sounds natural.

Bob saw the new iPhone and his fingers started tingling. He promised himself he [STRIKE]was going to[/STRIKE] would buy it even if he [STRIKE]would[/STRIKE] was going to starve [STRIKE]in the coming[/STRIKE] for the next couple of months.

.

 

[Bassim]

teechar,

Thank you,
I see I still mix "would" and "was going", and this is my weak point. I believe they are sometimes interchangeable, but it is difficult to know in which cases.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd write even if he had to starve.

 

[teechar]

I see I still mix "would" and "was going", and this is my weak point. I believe they are sometimes interchangeable, but it is difficult to know in which cases.

Yes, it depends on the sentence. Generally speaking, "would" is more tentative. To me, "promised he would" is more natural than "promised he was going to". However, check out the following ngrams; they may be telling a story.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...e would;,c0;.t1;,promised he was going to;,c0

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...=&direct_url=t1;,promised he was going to;,c0

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd probably use "... even if it meant starving in the coming months".