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myprofe · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:13 pm Post subject: mixed conditonals

These are mixed conditionals which means that the time in the two parts of the statement are different.

If I had studied I would have passed the exam. past + past

mixed:

If I had studied I would be in the next course. past + present
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Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

I think these are examples of indirect speech, and Chan-Seung Lee wants to follow the "rule". The rule would say, to change "Will I get a raise?" to indirect speech, you would change to statement order, add if, and change will to would, hence: "I asked my boss if I would get a raise." However, in his example, it is "I asked my boss if I will get a raise." I think this is also acceptable. The boss hasn't yet answered, and the raise is in the future.

We don't always follow our rules. I like his second example, "My boss asked me if I had closed the deal," better than the original. However, the past perfect seems to be on the way out in American English at least, and this is one place where I think you would hear people say, "My boss asked me if I closed the deal." as well.