BKimball wrote:
I think this issue has been covered elsewhere in the forum, but here's the basic difference between could and would:
When paired with an "if" statement, "could" indicates possibility:
"If you had finished your dinner, you could have had a piece of cake as well." --> In this instance, you did not finish your dinner. However, the possibility exists that if you had finished your dinner, you would have been allowed to eat cake.
If I had written: "If you had finished your dinner, you would have had a piece of cake as well." then the reader would get the impression that the piece of cake would have been definite, regardless of whether or not you wanted it. This makes it sound like a command or a punishment.
When paired with an "if" statement, "would" indicates something that was certain:
"If you had finished your dinner, I would have given you a piece of cake." --> In this third variation of the sentence above, the narrator is saying for certain that if you had finished your cake, he or she definitively would have given you a piece of cake. Whether you "could" have eaten it after finishing dinner is another story...
Some more examples where this meaning is reflected:
"If I can win the game, you could win it also." --> We're not sure if either one of us will win.
"If I had won the game, I would have been very happy." --> Again, here we're talking in the past tense and saying with certainty that if I had won, I definitely without a doubt would be happy.
Happy studying!
Brett
Hi Brett & other SC gurus
I need two confirmations from post above.
1) I know that "would" can never make it to If clause. And from your post, we can say that "can" can make it to If clause. Is it possible for "will/could" to make it to If clause?
2) Will the same logic for could/would be valid for present tense to have possibility of presence of can/will in the subsequent clause to If clause. I have found in prominently used Spidey notes for GMAT preparation saying that "If.. can" combination is wrong.
For eg. If you finish your dinner, you will have a piece of cake as well.
If you finish your dinner, you can have a piece of cake as well.
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04 Nov 2010, 08:33
