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Wed 24 Jul, 2013 09:29 pm
A criminal, after purloining a treasure chest and losing it to the police, yelled:
-Whose loot is this, if it is not ours!
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In English, when we say
-If I were you, I would do it.
The meaning is I am not you; if the if-clause is used with other verbs of the past tense, it indicates unlikeliness, if still referring to a present situation.
According to this, if a person is convinced of his having a right to a chest, like that criminal, shouldn't he say?;
-Whose loot would this be, if it were not ours!
If he doesn't say so, won't it be as awkward as ?:
-If I am you, I will....
@WBYeats,
Quote:In English, when we say
-If I were you, I would do it.
The meaning is I am not you; if the if-clause is used with other verbs of the past tense, it indicates unlikeliness, if still referring to a present situation.
What does the part in bold mean, WB?
@WBYeats,
Quote:According to this, if a person is convinced of his having a right to a chest, like that criminal, shouldn't he say?;
-Whose loot would this be, if it were not ours!
By using the example in
bold, above, the speaker would be suggesting that the entire notion is more of a hypothetical, more doubtful, more unsure.
By saying,
Whose loot is this, if it is not ours!?
a speaker is putting the situation squarely in the realm of reality, not high speculation, or irrealis.
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