What is the difference in these two conditional sentences, meaning-wise?
- If you didn't go to bed so late, you wouldn't be so tired in the morning.
- If you hadn't gone to bed so late, you wouldn't have been so tired in the morning.
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1Sentence 1 uses the so-called Second Conditional form, while sentence 2 uses the Third Conditional. (see this simplified explanation)– CowperKettleJan 17, 2016 at 9:17
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2The difference is tense. The first one shows a present unreal situation and the second one shows an impossible situation that didn't happen in the past.– SchwaleJan 17, 2016 at 10:22
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1@Ustanak When someone says these to me, (2) refers to a specific instance of going to bed late that did occur in the past (maybe even last night, if this was said in the afternoon); whereas (1) is making a more general statement and may be referencing a repeated pattern of going to bed late and being tired in the morning (often stated in the morning of such a day)– M.MMar 17, 2016 at 22:40
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1 Answer
The first sentence refers to the present :
If you didn't go to bed so late (but you usually do it),you wouldn't be so tired in the morning (but you usually feel tired ).
The second sentence refers to the past :
If you hadn't gone to bed so late (yesterday ),you wouldn't have been so tired in the morning.
But you went to bed late and you can see the result of it. Both conditionals are unreal.
