conditional sentence
Hello, I've found some worksheet with intermediate mixed tenses and I checked the key when I finished the exercise.
However, I have a question about one answer which I am not sure is correct, so I was hoping you would help me find out the reason why we use these tenses or it is a mistake.

Here's the sentence with the answers from the key:
"If he (CALL) _________calls________ me and apologizes for what he (DO) __________has done/did__________, I guess I (GIVE) ________would give__________ him a second chance. "
Why use these tenses? Sounds like a mix of first and second conditional which I didn't know existed?

So, here, I would put: If he called and apologized for what he had done I guess I would give him a second chance.

Question

conditional sentence
Hello, I've found some worksheet with intermediate mixed tenses and I checked the key when I finished the exercise.
However, I have a question about one answer which I am not sure is correct, so I was hoping you would help me find out the reason why we use these tenses or it is a mistake.

Here's the sentence with the answers from the key:
"If he (CALL) _________calls________ me and apologizes for what he (DO) __________has done/did__________, I guess I (GIVE) ________would give__________ him a second chance. "
Why use these tenses? Sounds like a mix of first and second conditional which I didn't know existed?

So, here, I would put: If he called and apologized for what he had done I guess I would give him a second chance.

Answer

If he had called and apologized for what he had done, I guess I would have given him a second chance.

If he had called and apologized for what he had done, I guess I would give him a second chance.

If he called and apologized for what he did, I guess I would give him a second chance.

They all sound fine to me, it depends on how you want to say your sentence and your intent.

Answer

oh and I hadn't understood your first statement, sorry... well, let me correct myself. If I were in a conversation, I would probably go for the simple past and present perfect because it sounds more natural, the focus is not on an action that had happened before...

Answer

Hmm. I completely agree with you, that sentence does not look correct.

I would write:
If he called me and apologised for what he did/has done, I would forgive him.

The sentence gives the impression that i don't think that he's going to call me. That mixed answer, from the example, should not be possible.

Answer

This sentence talks about an imaginary situation and a consequence. For this kind of sentence, we use the simple past in the If clause  (If he called), and would in the main clause (I would give him a second chance). "What he had done" is a fact within this imaginary situation... something he did way before your saying the hypothetical situation. That's why we use the past prefect  (had + past participle)

well, I hope I could help. :)

Answer

maybe the focus of this statement is on the if clause, the whole imaginary situation. So maybe the past perfect is not so required here, with the simple past and present perfect sound more natural. However, if you used the past perfect in a conversation, you wouldn't be misunderstood or sound funny, i think.

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