I would have gagged it up if I tried

[Maybo]

There was a little gas-and-convenience store on the other side called Zip Mart. It sold all the usual stuff, from motor oil to Wonder Bread to Little Debbie cakes, but it also sold fried chicken made by the proprietor, Mr. Eliades (known to the neighborhood as Mr. Zippy). That chicken was exactly what the sign in the window said: THE BEST IN THE LAND. I can still remember how tasty it was, but I never ate a single piece after my mom died. I would have gagged it up if I tried.

Source: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Why did the writer use "if I tried" and not ""if I had tried"?

 

[Rover_KE]

Perhaps the character acting as the narrator has a less than perfect command of English grammar.

 

[probus]

It is pretty common in informal AmE to use the simple past tense where the past perfect would be better. I never do so myself and tend to disapprove, but hear it frequently.

 

[emsr2d2]

In my opinion, Stephen King's writes some of the best dialogue in the world. Like real people, his characters frequently "break the rules" of grammar.

 

[Maybo]

I've made some observations. I feel like English speakers tend to use the simple past tense for affirmative "if" clause in causal conversations. For example, "if I did/were/were verbing, etc. , would have p.p." However, they would use the past perfect tense in negative "if" clause. For example, "if I hadn't p.p. , would have p.p."
Or do they actually use the simple past tense in both situations?

 

[emsr2d2]

I've made some observations. I feel like English speakers tend to use the simple past tense for affirmative "if" clause in causal conversations. For example, "if I did/were/were verbing, etc. , would have p.p." However, they would use the past perfect tense in negative "if" clause. For example, "if I hadn't p.p. , would have p.p."
Or do they actually use the simple past tense in both situations?

Please give us several complete sentences to demonstrate your observations.

 

[Maybo]

In the same book, I saw “Only that isn't the right place, either, because I don't think my father would have needed a miracle if it hadn't been for that goddamned bridge.”

 

[Tarheel]

It looks like an interesting story.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the same book, I saw “Only that isn't the right place, either, because I don't think my father would have needed a miracle if it hadn't been for that goddamned bridge.”

Those are the tenses I would use in that sentence. How do you think someone would write it using the simple past (as you suggested in post #6)?

 

[Maybo]

Those are the tenses I would use in that sentence. How do you think someone would write it using the simple past (as you suggested in post #6)?

Maybe “…my father would have needed a miracle if it weren’t for that goddamned bridge.”

 

[emsr2d2]

Maybe “…my father would have needed a miracle if it weren’t for that goddamned bridge.”

Ah, I thought you meant they'd use the simple past for every verb in the sentence, so they wouldn't use "my father would have needed".

 

[jutfrank]

You now seem to be asking about the following fixed patterns:

if it weren't for
if it hadn't been for

Focus on learning these as fixed phrases.

 

[Maybo]

if it weren't for
if it hadn't been for

It’s more about the tense like “I would have gagged it up if I tried.” I guess I will get used to it.