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Comment by flomble

This and the comments below are missing the source of this disagreement. The way that conditionals are most commonly structured in English has rapidly shifted over the last 10 years. The simplest way to explain is with examples.

Old style: "If I had tried, I would have succeeded."

New style: "If I would have tried, I would have succeeded."

The extra "would" style used to be restricted only to adding strong emphasis, as in "if you would just LISTEN to me...". Slowly, this extra "would" has crept into other areas, like replacing the subjunctive as in the example:

Old style: "It would be great if this were done."

New style: "It would be great if this would be done."

The new style is "incorrect" English as of a couple of decades ago, but its usage is increasing. It still sounds terribly wrong to my ear, but what determines whether grammar is "correct" is the way in which people actually speak.

parent flomble 7 years ago

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