Reply
Sat 16 Jan, 2016 11:23 pm
Hi, I'm looking for an answer to a sentence which I have found in one article crafted by a writer working for The Economist. I was wondering if you could explain the meaning of this sentence for me, whose first language is not English. I'd be grateful if you could help me figure it out. Thanks.
Here is my question : in this paragragh "critics would argue that Likud, the Israeli right more broadly, and Mr Netanyahu personally bear a large share of the blame for making the two-state solution impossible; it seemed far more realistic in 1993. But it's not clear that Israelis would ever have been willing to offer a bargain Palestinians could accept, or could have mustered the will to drag religious settlers out of Beit El kicking and screaming." Is the author talking about the past when he writes " but it's not clear that Israelis would ever have been willing to offer a bargain Palestinians could accept"? I'm baffled by the meaning and usage of would have been willing to or would have been doing something.
Best regards.
@rosenberg,
Quote:Is the author talking about the past when he writes " but it's not clear that Israelis would ever have been willing to offer a bargain Palestinians could accept"?
Yes, he's talking about the past, specifically around 1993.
Quote:
I'm baffled by the meaning and usage of would have been willing to...
Not sure what baffles you here. Would it be any less troublesome for you if it said "would ever have been willing...," because the meaning would be the same, I think.
@layman,
Thanks for your reply, layman. What baffles me is how to use Past Perfect Continuous , say, would have been doing. I still care to find out how to use it , even though I have been told that people rarly use future perfect continuous or past perfect continuous in real life.
Plus, I have to fess up that I still don't know why would the author use would have been willing to in the above-mentioned sentence.
@layman,
Thanks for your reply, layman. What baffles me is how to use Future Perfect Continuous , say, will have been doing or would have been doing in the past. I still care to find out how to use it , even though I have been told that people rarly use future perfect continuous or in real life.
Plus, I have to fess up that I still don't know why would the author use would have been willing to in the above-mentioned sentence.
@rosenberg,
rosenberg wrote:
Thanks for your reply, layman. What baffles me is how to use Future Perfect Continuous , say, will have been doing or would have been doing in the past. I still care to find out how to use it , even though I have been told that people rarly use future perfect continuous or in real life.
Plus, I have to fess up that I still don't know why would the author use would have been willing to in the above-mentioned sentence.
Well, sorry, but terminology like "future perfect continuous" is over my head. I don't know all the names of grammatical combinations, by any means. It seems to my that this is some kind of "hypothetical" useage.
Does a sentence like this make sense to you?: "If I had been 17 years old then, I would have been willing to join the Navy."
@layman,
Well, I'd say "If I had been 17 years old then, I would have been willing to join the Navy." doesn't make sense to me. It should have been " if I had been 17 years then, I would have pleased to join the Navy. Huh? Thanks again.
@rosenberg,
rosenberg wrote:
Well, I'd say "If I had been 17 years old then, I would have been willing to join the Navy." doesn't make sense to me. It should have been " if I had been 17 years then, I would have pleased to join the Navy. Huh? Thanks again.
I assume you meant to say: if I had been 17 years then, I would have
been pleased to join the Navy. If so, then yeah, that's just saying the same thing in a different way. Willing is similar to "pleased to," but less committal.
@layman,
Got it. Thanks for pointing out the mistake. I should be studying English hard.
@rosenberg,
rosenberg wrote:
Got it. Thanks for pointing out the mistake. I should be studying English hard.
You're welcome. I'm glad I was of some help, but I still don't know how I helped, because I don't know why it gave you trouble to begin with.
@layman,
Learning such English tenses is truly hard for people whose native language is not English, particularly when we run into recondite sentences when reading top-tier publications like The Economist or Fortune magazine. Besides, we can hardly find any well-meaning teachers from English-speaking nations willing to show us the ropes in the place where we live; you have to pay for it.
That's why I often post such grammar questions online, hoping to get answers from nice people like you. I wish I could speak and write English well like you.
@rosenberg,
rosenberg wrote:
I wish I could speak and write English well like you.
From what I've seen here you do extremely well, even for a native speaker. Your vocabulary is quite good, and I haven't noticed any grammatical errors or misuse of words, phrases, etc. "Fess up" rather than "confess" shows you know colloquial usage too. Don't worry, you're doing fine. Ya aint gotta be a perfectionist about it, ya know?
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace