If I Would Have… vs. If I Had…
Reprinted with permission by Editor Laura Lawless, http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/.
When talking about something that didn’t happen in the past, many English speakers use the conditional perfect (if I would have done) when they should be using the past perfect (if I had done).
For example, you find out that your brother saw a movie yesterday. You would have liked to see it too, but you hadn’t known he was going. To express this, you can use an if – then clause. The correct way to say this is with the past perfect in the “if” clause, and the conditional perfect in the “then” clause:
Correct: If I had known that you were going to the movies, [then] I would have gone too.
The conditional perfect can only go in the “then” clause — it is grammatically incorrect to use the conditional perfect in the “if” clause:
Incorrect: If I would have known that you were going to the movies, I would have gone too.
More examples:
Correct: If I had gotten paid, we could have traveled together.
Incorrect: If I would have gotten paid, we could have traveled together.
Correct: If you had asked me, I could have helped you.
Incorrect: If you would have asked me, I could have helped you.
The same mistake occurs with the verb “wish.” You can’t use the conditional perfect when wishing something had happened; you again need the past perfect.
Correct: I wish I had known.
Incorrect: I wish I would have known.
Correct: I wish you had told me.
Incorrect: I wish you would have told me.
Correct: We wish they had been honest.
Incorrect: We wish they would have been honest.
Pop Quiz
Choose A or B.
1.A. If I would have known you were sick, I could have brought you some meals.
1.B. If I had known you were sick, I could have brought you some meals.
2.A. If you had explained the objective, I could have completed the assignment sooner.
2.B. If you would have explained the objective, I could have completed the assignment sooner.
3.A. I wish it would have gone differently.
3.B. I wish it had gone differently.
4.A. We wish the team had scored more goals.
4.B. We wish the team would have scored more goals.
Answers
1.B.
2.A.
3.B.
4.A.
May 23, 2009 at 12:39 am
Thank you for your great articles about English study.
I would like to share another useful way to improve English listening and pronunciation, using speech synthesis software. When people have access to Windows Vista, they can install a freeware on it which can be downloaded from http://www.panopreter.com or from download.com. Then Microsoft Anna wil speak and read files in English. It’s a wonderful English learning method.
June 27, 2010 at 9:36 am
Thank you very much for the valuable information but I still have the following question:
When I want to ask about wishing something to have been happen in the future of the past like to say
“If I would have known that you would become sick, I would, off course, not travel abroad”
Or how about
“If I would travel to Sweden, then it is only because to meet you there”
Or
“If you would be going to like it, I would have bought it for you, but I have known for sure that you would not”
Thank you and Looking forward to hearing from you
Kind regard
Adel
June 27, 2010 at 11:25 am
If I would have known that you would become sick, I would, of course, not have traveled abroad.
If I travel to Sweden, it is only because I wish to meet you there.
If I thought you would like it, I would have bought it for you; but I knew that you would not.
July 5, 2010 at 11:09 pm
its going to help me a lot to improve. thanx
July 10, 2010 at 10:44 am
Jane’s first sentence (June 27) is incorrect. It should read “If I had known that …”
The second sentence is correct.
The third is slightly ambiguous in its intent, I believe. Either interpretation leaves the sentence incorrect.
“If I had thought you would like it, … ” is correct
Also correct is “If I thought you would like it, I would have bought if for you; but I know that you would not.”
These grammatical constructions are not easy. I welcome comment.
July 12, 2010 at 9:14 pm
You are right! I should have written, “If I had known that you were going to the movies…” I left out “that.” No excuses.
I’m not sure which sentence you are referring to when you say “the third” sentence.
I agree that “If I had thought…” and “If I thought…” could both be correct.
August 1, 2010 at 2:37 am
I guess keeping your sentences short simple would help you not getting confused.
here is my “correction”..
“If you would be going to like it, I would have bought it for you, but I have known for sure that you would not”
If I knew you’re going to like it, I should have bought it for you.
August 1, 2010 at 2:42 pm
You are close: If I knew you were going to like it, I would have bought it for you.
August 11, 2010 at 11:51 am
These are tricky concepts and hard to get straight. Sentence 1 has several possible interpretations. First, it may refer to actions all taken in the past, in which case it should read, “If I had known (in the past) that you would become sick (in the past), I would not have traveled abroad (in the past.) The second interpretation is in the simple present and future, based on fact. This would read “Since I know you are sick, I won’t travel abroad.” The third is in the conditional future: “If I think (in the present) that you might (a possibility) become ill (in the future), I will not travel abroad (in the future).” This last would be better stated in a simpler construction, such as “I won’t go abroad if there is a possibility that you will get sick while I’m gone.”
The second sentence is easier. It should read “If I travel to Sweden, it is only to meet you there.”
The third sentence, as a previous writer has mentioned, is ambiguous and needs pruning. I’d leave out all the business about what might be, and stick to facts: “I would have bought this for you, but I knew you wouldn’t like it.” Even so, it’s a little odd. Why would you think of buying something for someone who wouldn’t like it? It’s unnecessary to say that.
I’m glad to see that people are interested in getting these tenses right! I suggest a dinosaur of a grammar text: Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition Complete Course, available, I imagine, from used book suppliers. Look under Correct Form and Use of Verbs.
August 11, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Margaret, thank you for all your great input.