Elia Murru
Grammar question: hypothetical period. Hello everyone! I was reading an article which states: "He told the London newspaper, The Evening Standard, that we should all move to China if Corbyn becomes prime minister" Wouldn't be incorrect to use the present after if in this case? I would have said: we should all move to China if Corbyn BECAME prime minister. Thanks for answering. Elia
Dec 1, 2015 10:00 PM
Answers · 5
2
Everyone here seems very excited to try and answer the grammar questions haha! You probably know your grammar rules better than I do, but I believe that this is the second conditional (immediate-future time period using an unlikely hypothetical). It has been a long time since I focused on conditionals, but what might be confusing is that the conditional clause and consequence are being stated in the reverse order. The conditional (if Corbyn becomes) follows after the consequence (we should all move). "If Corbyn becomes Prime Minister, we should all move to China" sounds correct to me.
December 1, 2015
In context, this is probably not second conditional, but first conditional. In English, the word "should" is very often used with a present or future tense meaning, useful for making a ssuggestio, as opposed to stating an obligation with "have to," "need to" or "must."
December 8, 2015
Jon has it right. Dont be misled by the past tense in the beginning of the sentence. What he said is in the present.
December 2, 2015
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