would happen vs would have happened

Question

What would happen if Mark Zuckerberg was born in India?

What would have happened if Mark Zuckerberg had born in India?

Which one of these two is correct ?

eelero · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-04 14:58:01Z

1

Mark Zuckerberg was born in the past, so you would use past tense:

What would have happened if Mark Zuckerberg had been born in India?

Asking what would happen if a certain event occurred means that the event hasn't happened yet.

answered Aug 4, 2016 at 14:58

eelero

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can I say, What would happen if Mark Zuckerberg stopped the facebook.
– JN Raju
Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 15:02
Remove the word "the" and it's fine.
– eelero
Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 15:06
...and capitalize the word Facebook.
– J.R. ♦
Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 15:24
@JNRaju "stopped"? That really doesn't mean what you need it to mean... You could say "shut down"... "closed"... either would be preferable.
– Catija
Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 15:35

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Michael Rybkin · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-04 16:19:48Z

1

This one is what you typically find in your typical English grammar textbook (and that's perfect grammar):

What would have happened if Mark Zuckerberg had been born in India?

But more colloquially (daily English), you can just say:

What would have happened if Mark Zuckerberg was born in India?

answered Aug 4, 2016 at 16:19

Michael Rybkin

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