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Ask for help > help with one structure
help with one structure
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Pedro14
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help with one structure
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Hi there, Today I have stumbled on this sentence: Were I to eat meat, I would feel bad with myself because I am a vegetarian. It is an inverted conditional sentence. But I thought you could only use inversión in second conditional in sentences such as Were I you, ... Could you please give me a hand about when to use this structure and why to use the infinitive? Thanks a bunch |
9 Jun 2015
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yanogator
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The short answer is "Don �t use this structure" because it is a very literary structure. The non-inverted form is "If I were to ..." and the infinitive is what is used in this form with "were".
If I were to tell you everything, you would be shocked. This is a more formal form of "If I told you everything, you would be shocked". and the inverted form is "Were I to tell you everything, you would be shocked". So, there �s the standard conditional form: If this computer worked, I would be much happier" and the more formal version: If this computer were to work, I would be much happier" and the very literary-sounding version: Were this computer to work, I would be much happier." I hope this is clear enough for you Bruce |
9 Jun 2015
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Pedro14
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Thanks a million for your prompt answer. And is there any difference between If I told you everything, you would be shocked. and If I were to tell you everything, you would be shocked? According to your explanation the second one is more colloquial, am I right? If so, can I use "was" instead of "were", because I �ve been teaching my students that nowadays native speakers prefer using "was" to "were". Thanks. |
9 Jun 2015
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yanogator
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I think you read it too fast, Pedro. In the first indented line above, I probably should have said "that" instead of "this". "If I told you everything..." is the least formal, then "If I were to tell you everything...", then "Were I to tell you everything...". No, you can �t use "was" with "If" and the infinitive, even though we commonly use it with just "If". It would be lower than colloquial - essentially street language. "If he was president, things would be different." is now pretty widely accepted. But not "If he was to be elected president, things would be different". This will become accepted, but it isn �t there yet. Bruce |
9 Jun 2015
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