Not looking for a fight. Seeking enlightenment, set. And I still don't get it.
If you are ever in trouble, just call me.
This seems right to me. I don't understand why "were" is correct.
Saying that the sentence "If you were ever facing trouble, you should just call me."--is correct is not to say that a sentence such as "If you are ever in trouble, just call me." is incorrect, and i have not said that.
Yoong Liat's original question was whether or not his three sentences were correct--they are.
"If you were ever facing trouble, you should just call me."
"If you are ever in trouble, just call me."
The sentences are different and I believe both are correct as stated by Setanta.
I would like to apologise for the fact that my question has caused so much argument between the members.
Setanta wrote:Saying that the sentence "If you were ever facing trouble, you should just call me."--is correct is not to say that a sentence such as "If you are ever in trouble, just call me." is incorrect, and i have not said that.
Yoong Liat's original question was whether or not his three sentences were correct--they are.
Okey dokey. My problem was one of interpretation.
Yoong Liat, no need to apologize.
Hi Roberta
I'm glad to hear that. It makes me feel better.
Best wishes.
Setanta wrote:Yoong Liat, i advise you to pay no attention to what TCR has written. He/she obviously doesn't know enough about English grammar to answer your questions in a trustworthy manner.
Using "you're" rather than "your" is simply a symptom of this.
Who died and left you in charge?
Setanta wrote:If i were King, you'd all have to take remedial English...........askeert . . .
If you were King of what? King in your dreams? Since when is "askeert" a word in the English dictionary?
Roberta is right, Yoong Liat, there is nothing for which you need apologize. Both sentences are correct, and they each have different senses which would make them correct in one context, but not in another.
In tutoring ESL, and working with ESL instructors, i learned quickly, and many years ago, that ESL students prefer to use their own sentences, and are only interested in whether or not they have correctly expressed their ideas in those particular sentences. So, when someone posts one or more sentences and asks if they are correct, i usually only answer yes or no. If it is possible to make minor corrections to a sentence or sentences in the attempt to get the meaning the student wants, i will do so. By and large, though, i don't favor changing any sentence of an ESL student which is not grammatically at fault, and if they have written something which calls for a certain mood or tense of a verb, i will only try to supply that.
Your question was whether or not the sentences were correct, and they were. They're your sentences, so unless you ask for it, i don't think anyone here has any business to try to change them. "Facing trouble" rather than "in trouble" is a good example. To face trouble is not at all the same as to be in trouble, so i would never have thought of telling you to change that. By the same token, the third sentence, being hypothetical, not only did not need to be changed, but in fact was correct as written.
And Miss Raboida: of course, i was only kidding about a fight with you, something of which i cannot conceive.
WOW
You know this is killing me to say this..........nice post.
