Olga55 Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Were the worker prepared
Hello, I can’t understand why in this conditional sentence we don’t use prefect:
Were the workers prepared to accept the wage cut, the shop wouldn’t have had to shut down.
To my understanding the shop was shut down in the past, then the workers were to be prepared also in the past.
Had the workers been prepared to accept the wage cut, the shop wouldn’t have had to shut down. - Not correct?
Thank you.
Were the workers prepared to accept the wage cut, the shop wouldn’t have had to shut down.
To my understanding the shop was shut down in the past, then the workers were to be prepared also in the past.
Had the workers been prepared to accept the wage cut, the shop wouldn’t have had to shut down. - Not correct?
Thank you.
Top answer
Perfect interpretation. Sometimes 2nd and 3rd conditionals appear mixed. Language is not only grammar
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Perfect interpretation. Sometimes 2nd and 3rd conditionals appear mixed. Language is not only grammar 
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Planet Hopper, thank you for your answer 
, but what about the workers? They are still not prepared, are they? The shop is closed. 
, but what about the workers? They are still not prepared, are they? The shop is closed. 00
At that moment, before the shop closed but in the past, the workers were not ready to accept the wage cut, they didn't, so, the shop was closed. The whole sentence is about the past. No wage cut to accept now, the shop is closed.
Cheers
Cheers
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Were the workers prepared to accept the wage cut - is hypothetical possibility refering to the present or future or am I wrong?
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Think about it like this:
the workers were prepared to accept the wage cut- this means the workers did agree to the wage cut
were the workers prepared to accept the wage cut-this is hypothetical referring to the past (i.e. the workers had a chance in the past to agree to the cut)
"the workers were prepared" is not the same as "were the workers prepared". You can
the workers were prepared to accept the wage cut- this means the workers did agree to the wage cut
were the workers prepared to accept the wage cut-this is hypothetical referring to the past (i.e. the workers had a chance in the past to agree to the cut)
"the workers were prepared" is not the same as "were the workers prepared". You can
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Lakshwadeep, I got it. You are right I really was thinking about this conditional as the second one. I'll have to digest it, but I got where I was wrong! Thank you!
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