Timeline for Past real conditional
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 16, 2017 at 21:01 | comment | added | whitecap | @rjpond: Thank you. You just explained the grammar of 'conditional' the way I've learned all these years and verified that I am in the right direction to interpret it. | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 19:02 | comment | added | rjpond | As I interpret it, the passage is describing a real past, in which the subject was raised on at least some occasions. When we recount actual past events, it's real: "As a child, if I was sick, I stayed away from school" ("if" and "when" play a very similar role here, as the OP said). "If the subject was raised, I grew silent." | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 18:55 | comment | added | Lambie | Yes, unreal past and there is no rule that says the unreal past cannot occur alongside the simple past. It's just not that involved. Yes, if he were surprised is hypercorrection in your example but not the OP's sentence. | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 18:47 | comment | added | rjpond | Thus, we may be interpreting the passage differently. Besides that, Huddleston & Pullum (CGEL) confirm that "were" is encroaching onto the traditional territory of "was", and that some instances of "were" thus have "the flavour of hypercorrection". An example from CGEL: "If he were surprised, he didn't show it." | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 18:44 | comment | added | rjpond | @Lambie: Normally "were" (in the 1p/3p sing.) is the unreal nonpast. The quoted passage is in the past tense. Occasionally "were" can describe the unreal past. However, the passage seems to me to be describing the real past. The word "if" isn't enough on its own to make something unreal. I can contrast "If I was angry, it was because I cared" (real past) with "If I were angry, it would be because I cared" (unreal nonpast) and "If I had been angry..." (unreal past). I'd contrast "He grew silent if it was raised" (real past) with "He would grow silent if it were raised" (unreal nonpast). | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 17:08 | comment | added | Lambie | That is not how I understand hypercorrection. If I say it, I ain't hypercorrectin'. | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 16:54 | comment | added | rjpond | The fact that it is "marked" as educated or literary is precisely why hypercorrection tends to occur. | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 16:35 | comment | added | Lambie | I don't agree with this at all. In literary writing, the were stays. Also, it is marked as educated speech. | |
| Dec 16, 2017 at 12:31 | history | answered | rjpond | CC BY-SA 3.0 |