if you used some medicine that helped you, you would say...

[NAL123]

A: When do you use the expression "it helps me a lot"?

B1: It can be used in many situations. For example, if you used some medicine that helped you, you would say, "it helps me a lot". (meant as a pure second conditional)

B2: It can be used in many situations. For example, if you use some medicine that helps you, you would say, "it helps me a lot". (meant as a mixed (ie, real+hypothetical) conditional)

In both B1 and B2, speaker B is trying to mean that if a person takes some medicine regularly that helps them, they can say "it helps me a lot".

Are sentences B1 and B2 each a correct/idiomatic way of expressing the above intended meaning?

 

[emsr2d2]

A: When do you use the expression "It helps me a lot"?

B1: It can be used in many situations. For example, if you used some medicine that helped you, you would say, "It helps me a lot". (Meant as a pure second conditional.)

B2: It can be used in many situations. For example, if you use some medicine that helps you, you would say, "It helps me a lot". (Meant as a mixed (ie, real+hypothetical) conditional.)

In both B1 and B2, speaker B is trying to mean say that if a person regularly takes some medicine regularly that helps them, they can say "It helps me a lot".

Are sentences B1 and B2 each both a correct/idiomatic way of expressing the above intended meaning?

Please note my corrections above. Note that I changed all the text in post #1 to black. This is because we frequently use red text in our corrections.

I find B1 odd because after "... if you used some medicine that helped you", I would expect it to recommend that you say "It helped me a lot".
B2 works if you're a regular user of that medicine and experience tells you that it works for you. The present tense is appropriate there.

 

[NAL123]

Thank you for the corrections! I really appreciate that.

I find B1 odd because after "... if you used some medicine that helped you", I would expect it to recommend that you say "It helped me a lot".

So what does the following sentence tell you?

If you used some medicine that helped you, you would say, "It helped me a lot."

Can I use this sentence in the context of post #1? Or, does it apply in a context where the person benefited from the medication in the past, but no longer takes it, because now they don't need to?

 

[emsr2d2]

It doesn't mean they took it in the past but no longer take it. It simply means that, at some point in the past, they used it and it was helpful. They might have used it just once; they might have used it hundreds of times. They might use it again in the future. We have no way of knowing.

If I had taken something in the past but was 100% certain I would never take it again, I'd say "I used to take [name of medicine]. It was really helpful". I'd probably go on to explain why I said "I used to take".