I would have gone there if.

Posted by Pompous Git on August 31, 2004

In Reply to: I would have gone there if. posted by Smokey Stover on August 29, 2004

: : : : : Hello,
: : : : : Could anyone tell me if I get this right.
: : : : : I tried to write to a friend whom I planned to visit but something had gotten in the way.

: : : : : "*I would have gone *there if my mom didn't cancel the trip.
: : : : : Or
: : : : : "*I would have been *" there if my mom didn't cancel the trip.
: : : : : Thank you like always

: : : : They are both ok.
: : : : Either sentence can be used.

: : : There's a problem with the verb later in the sentence. It should say "if my mom hadn't canceled the trip."

: : The 'didn't' versions sound very wrong to UK ears. The 'hadn't' is so much better.

: Bergie and Dr. Briggs are both right about the second sentence. With a past conditional in the first clause, the second pretty much calls for the past perfect. The first sentence is more problematic. I tried to write (simple past)... whom I planned to visit (dependent clause; simple past, but past perfect also okay, especially in the upshot, which is that he did not, in fact, visit). The second independent clause--something had gotten--implies with the past perfect something which is not stated, namely, that something had happened before I tried to write. Barring some explanation, I would expect a simple past in this clause. Is that as clear as mud? SS

"I sought to communicate in writing with an amiable associate. However, another activity, more worthy of my time, diverted me from such correspondence."

"Were it not for my mother determining that our activities should take place elsewhere, my attendance at that locality would have indeed been at the locus, as originally planned."