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Ask for help > There ´s something very wrong with this sentence...
There ´s something very wrong with this sentence...
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Lana.
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There ´s something very wrong with this sentence...
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What?
If I got the earlier bus, I ____________ (can) come home at 5 o ´clock. |
3 Feb 2010
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Yulia Mo
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Mmmm... It ´s evening and my head isn ´t working properly. I don ´t see what ´s wrong. I would say
If I got the earlier bus i would be able to come home at 5 o ´clock.
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3 Feb 2010
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anitarobi
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If I got the earlier bus, I could come home at 5 o ´clock. - should be correct but sounds strange...
If I had caught the earlier bus, I could have come home at 5 o ´clock. - sounds a lot better to me (sorry about changing GET into CATCH, it ´s just my nature) |
3 Feb 2010
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sa3ida
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HI LANA
it ´s really confusing but I think a possible answer can be the following:
....... I would be able to come......
but wait a minute, here in this sentence what should be put between parenthesis is the verb "to come", because the whole type of conditional, I mean the unreal conditional provides an imaginary result for a given situation, it means impossibility so the most accurate answer is:
I would come home at 5....
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3 Feb 2010
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Olindalima ( F )
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What about "be able" instead of can?
.... I would be able to ... ?
If there is a cruise I wanna join, ok? Don ´t forget friends.LOL
Have a nice day.
linda
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3 Feb 2010
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mimau
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I agree with ladybird : if I had got...I could have come...but I ´d rahter use If I had caught
Bye
Sylvie |
3 Feb 2010
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conqueror_mko
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earlier bus or previous bus ? is the mistake here ? ( lol ) |
3 Feb 2010
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Zora
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This looks like one of those silly cases of using "can" instead of "be able to"...
I ´ve often come across exercises where the teachers wanted students to realise that it should be "be able to" instead of "can". Silly though since it ´s not exactly the same verb...
If I got the earlier bus, I would be able to come home at 5 o ´clock.
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3 Feb 2010
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Lana.
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Guys,
you can all win tons of love from me forever and ever, and for eternity.  When I ´m millionnaire I ´ll take you all on a cruise.
I agree with Anita -
If I got the earlier bus I could come home at 5 o ´clock. - OK, sounds correct but strange, because it looks as if the speaker is imagining the situation (2nd conditional), but "the" makes it a very realistic bus - which bus? "the earlier bus".
Now,
If I had got the earlier bus I could have come home at 5 o ´clock (missed opportinity).
So, what I should do is probably change "the" for "an" -
If I got an earlier bus I could come home at 5 o ´clock... (imagining this standing at a bus stop).
Am I right? |
3 Feb 2010
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pollyanna_pl
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Hi,
I would think "the earlier bus" = the earlier of the two we are considering, so it can still be a hypothetical bus.
To me "if I got the earlier bus, I could come home at five" sounds fine. What is also implied, to my ears, is "I suppose I could, but it´s rather difficult, or at any rate, do I really want to do that?"
Does it make sense?
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3 Feb 2010
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