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If you ____ to me, you ____ what I was trying to say.

A) had been listening / would have understood
B) were listening / would have understood
C) had been listening / would understand
D) listened / will understand
E) listen / will understand

I'm confused which option is true. Could anyone explain me every option whether it is true or not?

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  • Option (B) looks better to me.
    – Maulik V
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 12:13
  • @Bora By "which option is true", do you mean "which answer the exercise wants", or do you mean you want each and every answer choice to be discussed whether it's possible to use, and in what occasion? (The latter is a much more difficult question.)
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 12:53
  • @DamkerngT. Yes, I want every options to be discussed. Because every answer choice looks fine to me.
    – Bora
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 13:03
  • @Bora only (A), or (E) is possible to me, and it's obvious to me that the exercise wants (A). (B) or (C) may be possible in some dialects but neither makes much sense to me (I still can't come up with a good context for them). (D) is just odd. Note that I'm a non-native speaker, by the way.
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 13:11
  • @DamkerngT. Can I say "If you listen to me, you will understand what I was trying to say." regardless of the answer of the question?
    – Bora
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 13:21

1 Answer 1

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A) Correct. Note that it puts the misunderstanding in the past

B) Incorrect. Corrected: were listening / understand (if you [past tense], then you [present tense])

C) Correct. Note that its misunderstanding continues into the present

D) Incorrect. Corrected: listened / understand

E) Correct. Note that it moves into the future: you did misunderstand (past), but if you listen now (present) you will understand (future) what I was trying to say previously.

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3
  • Did you miss the fact that in the second clause the speaker says "what I was trying to say" (Past Continuous)? I think it eliminates 'E' as valid at all.
    – Victor Bazarov
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 14:01
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    I did not, @VictorBazarov: "If you listen, you will understand what I was trying to say (before)." I.e. Listen to me now, and I will clear up your misconceptions about what I said earlier.
    – G. Ann - SonarSource Team
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 14:03
  • Nice! I also vacillated about (E).
    – CowperKettle
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 14:17

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