Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

I came across the following passage the other day.

I knew the first six months would be difficult. They are for any small business. The constant construction might create more obstacles than there otherwise would have been; nevertheless, I loved the space. It was everything I wanted.

If the first half of the third sentence above (#1, below) had been #2, would the sentence not make sense?
1. The constant construction might create more obstacles than there otherwise would have been.
2. The constant construction might create more obstacles than there otherwise would be.


Sometimes I am confused about this type of expression.

[pugachevV]

Your #2 sentence is correct.

It depends on whether the man is speculating on what might happen in the future or whether he is looking back on something that happened in the past.
In the latter case he probably should have written. The constant construction might have created...etc.,

[fw]

Thank you for your reply, pugachevV.

In this particular case, the narrrator is speculating on what might happen in the future on the construction that has already begun but that has not yet finished.

This passage is from "The Shop on Blossom Street"(by Debbie Macomber). I think the prestigious writer can't have misused English in her work. I wanted to know why she used #1.