[Grammar] It would be great if I can see you again.

[kadioguy]

(On the TV program Let's Talk in English)

It would be great if I can see you again.

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Is this sentence grammatically right?

I would think it should be It would be great if I could see you again.

What do you think?

 

[Rover_KE]

I agree with you.

 

[kadioguy]

I don't recommend that learners use such hybrid constructions, but I would not call them incorrect. With such expressions as "It would be great if ..." and "I would be delighted if", I think we are using a polite formula rather than thinking in hypothetical terms.

Why not just say "It will be great if I can see you again"?

Is this sentence impolite?

 

[kadioguy]

It's not impolite. There is simply a greater certainty of seeing that person.

OK, here are my thoughts:

Grammatically if I don't know whether I can see you again, I should say: It would be great if I could see you again. But that implies that I don't believe I can see you again, so in order to being polite, I say It would be great if I can see you again.

Am I right?

 

[kadioguy]

No.

It would be great if I could see you again does not necessarily imply that I don't believe I can see you again.

OK, how about this?

It simply means a less certainty of seeing that person, but in order to be polite, I say It would be great if I can see you again.

Am I right?

 

[emsr2d2]

No.

 

[kadioguy]

2. It will be great if I could see you again.
3. It would be great if I can see you again.
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But I still don't understand why #2 and #3 are used. They are ungrammatical.
Could you tell me the reason why they are used? For a polite formula? What polite formula?

 

[kadioguy]

1. It will be great if I can see you again.
2. It will be great if I could see you again.
3. It would be great if I can see you again.
4. It would be great if I could see you again.

In informal real-life conversation, they all express roughly the same thought.

"In informal real-life conversation, they all express roughly the same thought."

This surprises me. :shock:

Maybe I should know more about everyday conversation.

 

[jutfrank]

It would be great if I can see you again.
It would be great if I could see you again.

I imagine both of the correct sentences above to be somebody talking to a potential romantic partner after a date. In that case, politeness doesn't come into it. The first is very slightly more direct, but not impolite.

Who are you imagining is saying the sentence? Perhaps you mean :

It will be great to see you again.
It would be great to see you again.

In the first, we assume that the people are going to meet again. In the second, it hasn't yet been confirmed.