[Grammar] conditional snetence with If it weren't for...

[Frankafoil]

I have a question.

If I want to say that somebody is a hard-working person and have made great progress this year which conditional structure should I use:
You wouldn't have made any progress If it weren't for your hard work. or simply the third conditional: you wouldn't have made any progress If it hadn't been for your hard work.
Which one sounds more natural and correct?

Thank you in advance.

 

[5jj]

If I want to say that somebody is a hard-working person and [STRIKE]have[/STRIKE] has made great progress this year, which conditional structure should I use:
"You wouldn't have made any progress [STRIKE]I[/STRIKE] if it weren't for your hard work"., or simply the third conditional: [STRIKE]y[/STRIKE] "You wouldn't have made any progress [STRIKE]I[/STRIKE] if it hadn't been for your hard work".

Welcome to the forum, Frankafoil. :hi:

The first of your sentences is not impossible, but the second is more likely.

 

[abaka]

I'd like to add one thing. "If it hadn't been" is a past conditional. The meaning of "if it weren't", on the other hand, is indeterminate in time, and so the following sentence is quite natural:

You wouldn't be making any progress if it weren't for your hard work. In other words, progress now. Compare with:

You wouldn't have made any progress if it hadn't been for your hard work. Progress in the past.

 

[Tdol]

If I want to say that somebody is a hard-working person and have made great progress this year

Has the year finished?

 

[Frankafoil]

Yes, this is the end of the course.

 

[emsr2d2]

It seems a little mean to suggest that someone wouldn't have made any progress at all without hard work! On a course, even the laziest person can make some progress.

You wouldn't have made such good/great progress if it hadn't been for all the hard work you put in.