[Grammar] Were to happen after I left

[Jiayun]

If anything were to happen after I left, I would feel responsible.

For the above sentence, I can understand why 'were' is in past tense but I cannot understand why use 'left' instead of 'leave'. Could anyone explain?

 

[bhaisahab]

If you changed "would" to "will", "leave" would be correct.
If you change "would" to "will", leave will be correct.

 

[Matthew Wai]

If anything were to happen after I left, I would feel responsible.

'Left' should be used because it is used in conjunction with the past subjunctive 'were to' in the second conditional, is it correct or not?

Not a teacher.

 

[Jiayun]

I do not think that is the reason why left is used.

In fact, you can simply take out the phrase "anything were to happen after" so that the sentence will be "If I left, I would feel responsible." which is a typical conditional sentence. However, the use of past tense here is quite weird as its usage is for describing something which is not true at the moment but "anything were to happen" is hypothetical and could be true.

Therefore, I believe the present tense of the conditional sentence should be used instead.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The present conditional would not work there.

 

[Jiayun]

On second thought, "anything were to happen" is also a conditional sentence in past tense which should mean something untrue at the moment.

I have to say that this sentence structure is complicated and I would like to call it double conditional as there is a conditional phrase within a conditional sentence. :shock:

 

[Matthew Wai]

you can simply take out the phrase "anything were to happen after" so that the sentence will be "If I left, I would feel responsible." which is a typical conditional sentence.

I think otherwise. You can simply omit 'after I left', then it will be 'If anything were to happen, I would feel responsible', which is the second conditional and whose meaning seems more correct.

Not a teacher.

 

[Jiayun]

Yes, this should be my original thinking and that is why I was puzzled when I saw the word "leave" used in the past tense.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'After I leave, if anything were to happen, I would feel responsible.'
Is it correct to use the simple present 'leave' which is not in the 'if' clause?

Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

It seems to me that the underlined part is a simple subjunctive. "If anything happened (were to happen) after I left, I'd feel responsible." The rest is conditional.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Would it be different from 'If I left and anything were to happen after that, I would feel responsible'?

Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

Isn't that the same sentence, just rearranged a little?