[Grammar] I would have thought it a proper job for the Army to fight rebellion.

[kadioguy]

You use would, or sometimes would have with a past participle, when you are expressing your opinion about something or seeing if people agree with you, especially when you are uncertain about what you are saying.

I think you'd agree he's a very respected columnist.

I would have thought it a proper job for the Army to fight rebellion.

'Was it much different for you when you started at the Foreign Office?'—'Worse, I'd expect.'.

I would imagine she's quite lonely living on her own.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/would
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Why is it "would have thought" rather than "would think"? Do they mean the same here?

I assume that "would have thought" = "would" + "have thought", that is, I have thought it that say, but I am not sure if you will agree with me, so I say "I would have thought it a proper job ...".

However, "I would have thought it a proper job" and "I would think it a proper job ..." practically mean the same here.

Is that right?

 

[kadioguy]

You use would, or sometimes would have with a past participle, when you are expressing your opinion about something or seeing if people agree with you, especially when you are uncertain about what you are saying.

I would have thought it a proper job for the Army to fight rebellion.

I have a new thought:

"Would have thought" is like a "backward step" of "would think", which has an effect of "more uncertain" (than just "would think").

Is this reasonable?

 

[jutfrank]

I'd say that would've thought is used primarily to express the sentiment that outcomes have passed contrary to expectation.

I would've thought you'd phone me on my birthday.

= You didn't phone me on my birthday and I'm upset about that.

 

[kadioguy]

I'd say that would've thought is used primarily to express the sentiment that outcomes have passed contrary to expectation.

I would've thought you'd phone me on my birthday.

= You didn't phone me on my birthday and I'm upset about that.

Then what do you think of the "would have thought" in the original in post #1? What does that mean?

 

[jutfrank]

I don't really know. I'd need more context to make sense of it.

My first guess is that the speaker is being sarcastic in some way about the fact that the army failed to fight the rebellion, as would be expected.

 

[dunchee]

That sentence is from Killing Times by David Fraser, which can be found on Google Books by searching "I would have thought it a proper job".

I did a quick read (about two pages) and its meaning is pretty much what jutfrank said.

 

[kadioguy]

I don't really know. I'd need more context to make sense of it.

My first guess is that the speaker is being sarcastic in some way about the fact that the army failed to fight the rebellion, as would be expected.

Can I take the blue text to mean "(if you asked people) it would be expected that the army would fail to fight the rebellion"?

 

[jutfrank]

Can I take the blue text to mean "(if you asked people) it would be expected that the army would fail to fight the rebellion"?

No, the complete opposite. People expect armies to fight rebellions.

 

[Tdol]

In the context, the word drily suggest that Jutfrank is right- the speaker is being ironic.