if condition in the pastWhat does the “would have been” express in this sentence?
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if condition in the past
What does the “would have been” express in this sentence?
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I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:
if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:
if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.
I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.
conditionals
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
migrated from english.stackexchange.com 3 hours ago
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
|
show 2 more comments
I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:
if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:
if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.
I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.
conditionals
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
migrated from english.stackexchange.com 3 hours ago
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
2
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
– Smock
10 hours ago
thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong
– joe gates
10 hours ago
I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question
– Smock
9 hours ago
@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically
– joe gates
9 hours ago
1
It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.
– Smock
9 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:
if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:
if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.
I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.
conditionals
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:
if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:
if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.
I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.
conditionals
conditionals
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
asked 10 hours ago
joe gatesjoe gates
182
182
migrated from english.stackexchange.com 3 hours ago
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
migrated from english.stackexchange.com 3 hours ago
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
2
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
– Smock
10 hours ago
thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong
– joe gates
10 hours ago
I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question
– Smock
9 hours ago
@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically
– joe gates
9 hours ago
1
It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.
– Smock
9 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
2
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
– Smock
10 hours ago
thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong
– joe gates
10 hours ago
I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question
– Smock
9 hours ago
@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically
– joe gates
9 hours ago
1
It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.
– Smock
9 hours ago
2
2
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
– Smock
10 hours ago
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
– Smock
10 hours ago
thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong
– joe gates
10 hours ago
thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong
– joe gates
10 hours ago
I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question
– Smock
9 hours ago
I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question
– Smock
9 hours ago
@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically
– joe gates
9 hours ago
@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically
– joe gates
9 hours ago
1
1
It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.
– Smock
9 hours ago
It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.
– Smock
9 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).
But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.
The first form you give
If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
is perfectly normal and grammatical.
The second form
If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?
is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
5
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
6
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
1
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
add a comment |
This seems most natural to me:
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:
If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?
or
If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?
I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:
If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)
but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?
You could say this in the third conditional:
If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).
But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.
The first form you give
If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
is perfectly normal and grammatical.
The second form
If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?
is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
5
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
6
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
1
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).
But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.
The first form you give
If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
is perfectly normal and grammatical.
The second form
If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?
is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
5
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
6
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
1
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).
But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.
The first form you give
If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
is perfectly normal and grammatical.
The second form
If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?
is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).
But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.
The first form you give
If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?
is perfectly normal and grammatical.
The second form
If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?
is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
answered 9 hours ago
Colin FineColin Fine
31.6k24560
31.6k24560
5
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
6
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
1
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
add a comment |
5
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
6
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
1
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
5
5
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"
– THiebert
7 hours ago
6
6
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.
– DJClayworth
7 hours ago
1
1
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".
– Barmar
6 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
True. I missed that point.
– Colin Fine
4 hours ago
add a comment |
This seems most natural to me:
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:
If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?
or
If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?
I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:
If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)
but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?
You could say this in the third conditional:
If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
add a comment |
This seems most natural to me:
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:
If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?
or
If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?
I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:
If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)
but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?
You could say this in the third conditional:
If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
add a comment |
This seems most natural to me:
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:
If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?
or
If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?
I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:
If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)
but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?
You could say this in the third conditional:
If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
This seems most natural to me:
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:
If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?
or
If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?
I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:
If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)
but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?
You could say this in the third conditional:
If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
answered 10 hours ago
SmockSmock
3816
3816
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
add a comment |
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)
– joe gates
10 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
add a comment |
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2
If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?
– Smock
10 hours ago
thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong
– joe gates
10 hours ago
I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question
– Smock
9 hours ago
@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically
– joe gates
9 hours ago
1
It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.
– Smock
9 hours ago