If it were not for...

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Are my sentences correct?

1. 'If it were not for her I would never meet him.'
2. 'If it hadn't been for her I would have never met him.'

 

[GoesStation]

Number two is correct. In sentence one, does the meeting happen in the past or the present?

 

[Rachel Adams]

Number two is correct. In sentence one, does the meeting happen in the past or the present?

#1 is in the present and #2 in the past. So it's the same construction as 'I wish I were' (now) and 'I wish I had been (past), isn't it?

 

[emsr2d2]

In sentence 2, I would use "I would never have met him"

 

[GoesStation]

#1 is in the present ….

Can you add a sentence or two to establish that? I'm having trouble thinking of a context where the sentence would work.

 

[Yankee]

Hello.

Are my sentences correct?

1. 'If it were not for her I would never meet him.' Context could help, but OK if "her" has arranged for a future meeting.
2. 'If it hadn't been for her I would have never met him.' OK, but prefer emsr2d2's response.

Y.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Can you add a sentence or two to establish that? I'm having trouble thinking of a context where the sentence would work.

I cannot. Maybe it doesn't exist in English and only the construction in the second sentence is used?

 

[emsr2d2]

I could just about accept sentence 1 if "I would never meet him" referred to the future. Let's say you have a friend (Sally) who knows Brad Pitt. She has arranged for you to meet him next month. You are telling another friend about your exciting plan!

You: Hey Peter. Guess who I'm meeting next month!
Peter: I have no idea! Donald Trump?
You: No!!!! I'm going to meet Brad Pitt!
Peter: What?! How on earth did you arrange that?
You: My friend Sally knows him and she's invited me to a party he'll be at.
Peter: Wow! Lucky you!
You: If it weren't for Sally, I would never meet him.

Now, I said I could just about accept it in this context. In reality, I would say "If it weren't for Sally, I would never get [the opportunity] to meet him".