Cerca tra vari insegnanti di Inglese...
Gabriel
Can you kindly explain me this grammar structure? (I wouldn't have otherwise had)
Hello,
Last week, I was watching a vocabulary video on Youtube, and one of the examples had a fancy grammar structure that I've never seen. Here it is:
"My father encouraged me to study languages, and this has opened up certain avenues for friendship I would not have otherwise had."
I completely understand the meaning of the last clause; however, I would've written without the final "had", which is incorrect according to the author of the video. Can someone help me out? :)
Best,
Gabriel
19 mar 2014 19:40
Risposte · 5
3
Ok, you can understand it if you take out the adverb ("otherwise").
"I wouldn't have had" is the re-imagined past. The meaning is this never happened in reality - in fact, the opposite happened: "I had these opportunities."
If you remove the final "had", then you are in the wrong time-frame.
19 marzo 2014
1
Hello,
I found an explanation on a website :
The past conditional describes a past situation that never happened, or it did happen and the person speaking is describing the possibility of something not happening in the past. This is also called the past unreal or the past contrary-to-fact.
Here's an example:
If I had gone to that party, I would have had a good time.
(situation: I didn't go to the party; therefore, I didn't have a good time.)
"If I had gone to that party" uses the past perfect in this part of the sentence.
"I would have had a good time" is the likely result.
Sometimes you can do this without "if" and just use the past perfect:
Had I heard the weather report, I would have taken an umbrella.
or....
If I had heard the weather report, I would have taken an umbrella.
These are both good sentences, but the second one is used more often.
19 marzo 2014
it's "wouldn't have had otherwise"
20 marzo 2014
Non hai ancora trovato le tue risposte?
Scrivi le tue domande e lascia che i madrelingua ti aiutino!
Gabriel
Competenze linguistiche
Inglese, Giapponese, Portoghese, Spagnolo
Lingua di apprendimento
Spagnolo
Altri articoli che potrebbero piacerti

How to Answer “How Was Your Weekend?” Naturally in English
42 consensi · 17 Commenti

Why Some Jokes Don’t Translate: Understanding Humor in English
11 consensi · 2 Commenti

How to Talk About Your Strengths and Weaknesses Professionally
12 consensi · 4 Commenti
Altri articoli
