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Earlier I was writing a short paragraph about jobs. I mindlessly wrote some stuff until I see this sentence about a hypothetical situation:

If the environment was unsafe, it would pose certain health risks. The place you'd be working at might be shut down for that reason, leaving you unemployed.

The second sentence seemed a bit wrong at the bolded part, but I couldn't think of anything that fit better.

After some time I managed to avoid the problem (your workplace might be...) but is the original one correct in terms of grammar, and why (not)?

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  • What's wrong with the place you were working at? Your choice of employment is not dependent on the environment being unsafe.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jun 19 at 18:42
  • There's nothing wrong with your original. You're not actually working there, so it's hypothetical would be working at. Presumably earlier in the paragraph you've said something to the effect of "let's consider the places where people work."
    – TimR
    Commented Jun 19 at 18:57
  • Most native Anglophones today would say If the environment was unsafe... And almost all Anglophones ever would say The place you were working at might be... But what was the question?
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 19 at 21:22
  • @FumbleFingers Thanks for fixing the first mistake. As for the second one, it was about an imaginary situation (something like let's assume you worked in this place...), does your suggestion work in that context?
    – Swiss Cheese
    Commented Jun 20 at 7:47
  • Let's assume you worked in this place... is essentially the same context (The place you were working at might be shut down). But note that it's probably more common to use Simple Present in such contexts, and it means exactly the same thing. "Let's assume you work in this place...* would naturally pair with The place you're working at might be shut down (that one would almost always be contracted in any context I can imagine). When children say Let's play "house" it's Pretend I'm Daddy and you're Mummy, not Pretend I was Daddy and you were Mummy.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 20 at 10:26

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The question compares two editorial choices:

  • The place you'd be working at might be shut down
  • Your workplace might be shut down

Both of these choices are grammatically correct. This is because the only difference is an editorial choice of words that mean the same thing. By definition your workplace is the place you're working at.

Here's another example. Again, both sentences are grammatically correct and mean the same thing.

  • The ground where the children played was closed due to bad weather.
  • The children's playground was closed due to bad weather.

Although these examples are both valid, I personally would probably choose the second form from each pair. I would do that because it instinctively feels tidier and easier for the reader to understand. But at that level we are talking about a judgment call that may vary depending on the context.

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    I don't think the OP meant to compare the two; they settled on the second but wanted to know whether the first was valid. It's not specified, but I assume they wondered whether "you'd be working" was the right verb tense.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Jun 20 at 20:40

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