5 对过去事实的虚拟 if条件句是否应用过去完成时

蒋老师您好,这是正式出版物上的一篇很简单的短文。我觉得黑体字部分的虚拟语气使用似乎不妥,如果是对过去事实的虚拟,if 条件句是否应该用过去完成时呢?麻烦蒋老师看看,谢谢!

My friend Bobby and his family lived a simple life. They didn't havethat much money to spend on anything but essentialthings likefood. But as the summer holidays came around, Bobby wanted to treathis kids and take them to play miniature golf.

When they arrived at the golf course, Bobby walked up to thewoman at the ticket counter and said, "How muchis it to getin?"

The young woman replied, "$3.00 for you and $3.00 for any kid whois older than 6. We let them in free if they are 6 or younger. How old arethey?"

Bobby replied, "One is 3 and the other is 7, so I guess I should payyou $6.00."

The woman at the ticket counter said, "Hey, did you just win thelottery or something? You could have saved yourself 3 dollars.

If you told me that the older one was 6, I wouldn't have known the difference."

Bobby replied, "Yes, that may be true, but the kids would knowthe difference. It is my responsibility to set a good example forthem. That way, they can grow up and set good examples for others, too."

Then, taking his two boys by the hand, Bobby spent a wonderfulafternoon with them playing golf.

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最佳答案 2022-06-11 17:14

文章确实比较简单,但这个问题并不简单。我试图分析如下:

1. 从句为什么不用过去完成时?

If you told me that the older one was 6, I wouldn't have known the difference.

这里的从句没有用过去完成时,因为它不是对过去已发生情况的假设——对方过去并没有“告诉我较大的那个孩子是6岁”,对方过去告诉我的是“一个是3岁,另一个是7岁”。

请比较下面一句:

If you hadn’t told me that the older one was 7, I wouldn't have known…

这一句的从句就要用过去完成时,因为它是在对过去已发生情况的假设——对方过去“告诉了我较大的那个孩子是7岁”,现在你要表示“要是你过去没有告诉我较大的那个孩子是7岁”,这是对过去已发生情况的假设。所以要用过去完成时。

2. 从句为什么用一般过去时?

If you told me that the older one was 6, I wouldn't have known the difference.

这里的从句用一般过去时,表明作者是针对现在情况的假设,即“如果你现在告诉我较大的那个孩子是6岁”,我也不会知道有什么区别——但现在的事实是,我“已经知道”你的大孩子是7岁了,所以说我“不知道”是对“已存在事实”的假设,所以用 wouldn't have known

注:我也不知道你说的“蒋老师”是指哪个“蒋老师”(因为这个网站上有好几位“蒋老师”),我就擅自试着回答了。今后最好不要这样“指名”,因为会影响其他老师来解答。

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  • 秦雪   提出于 2022-06-10 22:44