Tenses and conditionals

[nouamaneer]

Dear all,

I need to know how you would complete this sentence:

If I had known (to know) that the film on television yesterday evening was (to be) so boring, I wouldn't have wasted (not/ waste) my time watching it.

I am interested much more in how be is conjugated.

Thank you,

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is this your homework?

 

[Rover_KE]

Is the information in your profile correct?

 

[nouamaneer]

No, it is not my homework (besides, I'm a junior member which means I know the rules) and yes, all information in my profile is correct.

I needed to check with you and see if there is something wrong with the sentence. That's all.

Now, do you agree with how it has been solved? I can't justify the use of past simple in the second part of the first clause!

 

[Matthew Wai]

I can't justify the use of past simple in the second part of the first clause!

It refers to the past. Can it be the justification? Not a teacher.

 

[nouamaneer]

That means you totally agree with the use of the simple past in there?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I agree, but I am not a teacher. The following is worth your reference.
http://usingenglish.com/forum/threa...-conditional?p=1141043&viewfull=1#post1141043

 

[bhaisahab]

I would use "would be" there.

 

[nouamaneer]

I would use "would be" there.

That was my first choice, but as I said, it's hard to justify.

 

[bhaisahab]

I don't see why you find it hard to justify.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Would' is the past tense of 'will'. Can it be the justification? Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

This is a classical example of deciding what you're referring to specifically. Obviously it is "the film on television yesterday evening". But do you mean i) whatever film was on, or ii) Superman XXIII (which happened to be on).

You can use "I didn't know the film would be so boring", but "I didn't know Superman XXIII was so boring."

 

[nouamaneer]

This is a classical example of deciding what you're referring to specifically. Obviously it is "the film on television yesterday evening". But do you mean i) whatever film was on, or ii) Superman XXIII (which happened to be on).

You can use "I didn't know the film would be so boring", but "I didn't know Superman XXIII was so boring."

Could you elaborate more please? I like your way of seeing it.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Was going to be so boring" is what I find natural there.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Are there any differences in the perceived meaning among 'was so boring', 'was going to be so boring' and 'would be so boring' in the OP's sentence?

 

[Raymott]

Could you elaborate more please? I like your way of seeing it.

If you knew what the movie was prior to watching it, you can saying "I didn't know this movie was so boring." You can't say that about an unknown film.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'I didn't know the movie was so boring.'── The speaker already knew the movie before watching it.
'I didn't know the movie would be so boring.'──The speaker did not know the movie before watching it.
Am I right or wrong? Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

No, only your first assumption is correct.

 

[nouamaneer]

No, only your first assumption is correct.

I still do not get your justification? Using the past simple means the speaker knew of the movie, but didn't know it was boring; yet when you use 'would be', it means the speaker didn't know about the movie. I can't get it? and I can't get its grammatical justification.

Thanks,

 

[Matthew Wai]

Neither can I. Let's wait for further explanations.