MGMAT SC strategy guide Doubt

[saurabhkamal1981]

Hi Instructors,

I have just finished chapter-13 "Verbs & Comparison : Advanced Strategy" and i am now on problem sets. I have a doubt on one question. Please help me in that particular question.

Q 8. Pg no. 259

If Abraham Lincoln were born in Livonia, he cannot become the president of the United States.

The answer is in Pg no. 262

If Abraham Lincoln had been born in Livonia, he could not have become the President of the United States.

I have written the same sentence with some changes. Please let me know if the sentence is correct.

If Abraham Lincoln were born in Livonia, he would not have become the President of the United States.

I have done a minor change here i.e would (conditional) because i believe "were" is in the present tense of hypothetical subjunctive so it requires conditional would.

Is this correct ? I think it is but i want to confirm because i read Chapter 7 If....then constructions

IF Sophie ATE pizza tomorrow, then she WOULD BECOME ill

Thanks
Saurabh

[dmitryknowsbest]

Hi Saurabh,

The difference between the Lincoln example and the Sophie example is that the first refers to the past, while the second refers to the future. Even though we use a past tense verb ("ate") we are talking about a hypothetical future event. ("If Saurabh scored 99% on the GMAT, he would throw a party for all the MGMAT instructors.")

The corrected Lincoln sentence correctly uses past perfect to refer to a past event (Lincoln's birth) that predates another past event (Lincoln's becoming/not becoming president).

Two more examples:

If I had listened to my mother, I would not have gotten into trouble. (I failed to listen to my mother, then got in trouble.)

If I were more interested, I would do better in my History of Doorknobs class. (I am currently uninterested, but would benefit from being interested--now or in the future.)

[saurabhkamal1981]

Thank you very much for your reply.

As you said the first sentence refers past and the second refers future.

If Abraham Lincoln had been born in Livonia, he could not have become the President of the United States.

IF Sophie ATE pizza tomorrow, then she WOULD BECOME ill

I completely agree on this, but if i see the original sentence:-

If Abraham Lincoln were born in Livonia, he cannot become the president of the United States.

Is the sentence not referring to unlike or unreal condition ? The birth place of Abraham Lincoln was Kentucky not Livonia.
Can't we say, " If Abraham Lincoln were born in Livonia" which was not true.

The books says hypothetical subjunctive is used with unreal or unlike conditions.

Or "Past perfect tense" is best suited for this kind of sentence which refers past.

Waiting for your reply

Thanks & Regards
Saurabh

[saurabhkamal1981]

Hi Dmitry,

Really apologize if i am taking your time again. I read the hypothetical subjunctive and past perfect tense once again and compared all the sentences written in both the forms.
I was myself making a mistake in understanding the difference between the two.

The "Abraham Lincoln" sentence is talking about the past and not the future so correct form is past perfect Tense. In fact it is an unreal past event as given in page number 262 of SC-4th edition.

Thank you once again for your reply.

Regards
Saurabh

[tim]

Hi Saurabh,
It sounds like you've answered your own question; please let us know if you need any further help on this one..