A
Anonymous
Guest
I know that the correct is.
if it were true...
but when can you say if it was...
Never?
qim
if it were true...
but when can you say if it was...
Never?
qim
qim said:I know that the correct is.
if it were true...
but when can you say if it was...
Never?
qim
This one puzzles me.If the allegation were true, then the prosecution would not have had to bribe witnesses.
MikeNewYork said:qim said:I know that the correct is.
if it were true...
but when can you say if it was...
Never?
qim
In American English, it is usually incorrect to use "if it was true" in a conditional sentence that assumes that the item was not true -- usually followed by a clause with 'would" in it. However, if the second clause contains an indicative verb, "was" may be perfectly correct.
If the allegation was true, then the conviction was justified.
If the allegation were true, then the prosecution would not have had to bribe witnesses.
That's precisely my point, Cas. I said I would have used one of these two in place of Mike's sentence (which is a mix of the two). As I didn't know you could do that, I asked for more details.Casiopea said:We know the allegation isn't true: had been ... would have had
If the allegation had been true, then the prosecution would not have had to bribe witnesses.
We don't know if the allegation is true: were ... would have
If the allegation were true, then the prosecution would not have to bribe witnesses.
Consider these,
If X were true, she would go to jail.
=> We don't know if X is true.
If X had been true, she would have gone to jail.
=> We know that X is not true.
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Francois said:This one puzzles me.If the allegation were true, then the prosecution would not have had to bribe witnesses.
I would have said either:
"If the allegation had been true, then the prosecution would not have had to bribe witnesses."
OR
"If the allegation were true, then the prosecution would not have to bribe witnesses."
What am I missing?
FRC
Francois said:TY for the details. I guess my (typically ESL) vision of grammar is a tad too rigid ;-)
FRC