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As a non-native speaker this is very difficult for me. I'd like to know how the meaning differs and which ones is/are correct please.

In this scenario, 2 people are talking in the present and speculating about something Andrew may or may not have done in the past.

  1. If Andrew has had lunch at his uncle's house, he would have seen the strange dining table and would be able to tell us the color.

  2. If Andrew has had lunch at his uncle's house, he will have seen the strange dining table and would be able to tell us the color.

  3. If Andrew had had lunch at his uncle's house, he would have seen the strange dining table and would be able to tell us the color.

  4. If Andrew had had lunch at his uncle's house, he will have seen the strange dining table and would be able to tell us the color.

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    Arguably none of the above (though (3) works in one context). (5) If Andrew has had lunch at his uncle's house, he will have seen the strange dining table and will be able to tell us the color. (6) If Andrew had had lunch at his uncle's house, he would have seen the strange dining table and would have been able to tell us the color.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Nov 8, 2020 at 15:27
  • Thank you. I didn't know you could use "will have" to talk about things happening in the past.
    – Nery
    Commented Nov 8, 2020 at 15:32

1 Answer 1

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(2) and (3) are valid, (1) and (4) are not.

If Andrew has had lunch there implies that the speaker doesn't know whether he has or not. If he has, he will certainly have seen the table.

If Andrew had had lunch there refers to a hypothetical situation. If it were true, he would have seen the table.

(Correction after reading Edwin's comment - (2) is valid if would is changed to will.)

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