Cerca tra vari insegnanti di Inglese...
Alexander
Is the sentence “Your safety would depend on how close you were to the animals” correct? I think “Your safety would depend on how close you would be to the animals” sounds more natural because there is no condition in the second part
1 mag 2026 04:35
Risposte · 2
1
There is a condition. You can rephrase to find it. If you were far from the animals, you would be safe. If you were close to the animals, you would not be safe.
1 mag 2026 05:27
1
Great question — this is a subtle but important point! The original sentence is actually correct: "Your safety would depend on how close you were to the animals." In English, after verbs like *depend on, matter, vary* in conditional structures, we use the past simple (were, had, knew) rather than would be in the second part. This is the standard second conditional pattern: would + verb → past simple So "how close you would be" sounds logical but isn't how native speakers structure it. The "were" is doing the conditional work here, not "would." Hope that helps!
1 mag 2026 04:50
Non hai ancora trovato le tue risposte?
Scrivi le tue domande e lascia che i madrelingua ti aiutino!

Non perdere l'opportunità di imparare una lingua comodamente da casa tua. Esplora la nostra selezione di insegnanti di lingue esperti e iscriviti subito alla tua prima lezione!