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Second conditional

DannyV5

New Member
Dutch - The Netherlands
Hi all!

Could you please tell me which if the following phrases is correct?

If you could reshape the world and you had to live in it yourself, what would it look like?
If you could reshape the world and you would have to live in it yourself, what would it look like?

Thank you in advance!
Hi there!

Hmm... If your question is which of those two is a Second Conditional... Then yes, I definitely agree with VicNicSor.
But the second sentence does make sense to me, still. I understand the second one as "if you could reshape the world
and were obliged to live in such reshaped world, [...]".

I hope I didn't mess your thoughts even more 👁 Oops! :oops:


Let's see what others comment!
Good luck! 👁 Wink ;)
Personally, I would class version (2) of that sentence as having an incorrect mix of tenses.

To me, "if... you would have to live in it" doesn't really equate to "if... you were obliged to live in it": it's the wrong tense to use in the if-clause there. 👁 Frown :(
Personally, I would class version (2) of that sentence as having an incorrect mix of tenses.

To me, "if... you would have to live in it" doesn't really equate to "if... you were obliged to live in it": it's the wrong tense to use in the if-clause there. 👁 Frown :(


Oh my! Indeed, you're right. "Would have" is definitely not the same tense as in "were" haha My mistake, sorry! 👁 Oops! :oops:

Thanks for your correction!!! 👁 Smile :)
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