if condition in the past





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3















I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:




if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:




if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.




I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.










share|improve this question













migrated from english.stackexchange.com 4 hours ago


This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.














  • 2





    If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • @Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.

    – Smock
    10 hours ago


















3















I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:




if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:




if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.




I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.










share|improve this question













migrated from english.stackexchange.com 4 hours ago


This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.














  • 2





    If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • @Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.

    – Smock
    10 hours ago














3












3








3








I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:




if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:




if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.




I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.










share|improve this question














I want to ask someone that why he didn't tell me something in the past and I want to say the sentence as below:




if you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




as I know this is not based on if condition formats and maybe I should have say:




if you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday.




I am curious to know which sentence is correct if any of them is correct.







conditionals






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 11 hours ago









joe gatesjoe gates

182




182




migrated from english.stackexchange.com 4 hours ago


This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.









migrated from english.stackexchange.com 4 hours ago


This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.










  • 2





    If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • @Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.

    – Smock
    10 hours ago














  • 2





    If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question

    – Smock
    11 hours ago











  • @Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.

    – Smock
    10 hours ago








2




2





If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?

– Smock
11 hours ago





If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?

– Smock
11 hours ago













thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong

– joe gates
11 hours ago





thx @Smock but based on third if condition format, if I am using past verb in the if part I should use "would" in the second part , please correct me if I wrong

– joe gates
11 hours ago













I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question

– Smock
11 hours ago





I'm struggling to come up with something in that particular format that applies for the situation you describe above. Usually, there's an If+outcome, not an IF+question

– Smock
11 hours ago













@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically

– joe gates
11 hours ago





@Smock thx dude, another question raise here and it is why "If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me then" is not incorrect based on conditional formulas. I know that it sounds natural but how we can explain this sentence is correct grammatically

– joe gates
11 hours ago




1




1





It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.

– Smock
10 hours ago





It's not really a conditional statement as there is no statement, only a question. Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. 'If you knew yesterday, you would have told me'.

– Smock
10 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















2














Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).



But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.



The first form you give




If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




is perfectly normal and grammatical.



The second form




If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?




is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"






share|improve this answer



















  • 5





    I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

    – THiebert
    8 hours ago






  • 6





    To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

    – DJClayworth
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

    – Barmar
    7 hours ago











  • True. I missed that point.

    – Colin Fine
    5 hours ago



















2














This seems most natural to me:




If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?




I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:




If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?




or




If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?




I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:




If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)




but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear



Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?



You could say this in the third conditional:




If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]







share|improve this answer
























  • I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • @joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

    – Cascabel
    8 hours ago












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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









2














Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).



But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.



The first form you give




If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




is perfectly normal and grammatical.



The second form




If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?




is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"






share|improve this answer



















  • 5





    I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

    – THiebert
    8 hours ago






  • 6





    To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

    – DJClayworth
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

    – Barmar
    7 hours ago











  • True. I missed that point.

    – Colin Fine
    5 hours ago
















2














Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).



But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.



The first form you give




If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




is perfectly normal and grammatical.



The second form




If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?




is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"






share|improve this answer



















  • 5





    I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

    – THiebert
    8 hours ago






  • 6





    To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

    – DJClayworth
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

    – Barmar
    7 hours ago











  • True. I missed that point.

    – Colin Fine
    5 hours ago














2












2








2







Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).



But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.



The first form you give




If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




is perfectly normal and grammatical.



The second form




If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?




is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"






share|improve this answer













Past verbs are often used for hypothetical conditions (what I think your teachers call "second conditional", but I've never heard that expression outside ESL teaching, so I'm not certain, and most English speakers won't know what you're talking about if you say it).



But this is not a hypothetical conditional, but a real conditional (what I think is called "first conditional") that happens to be in the past.



The first form you give




If you knew that yesterday why you didn't tell me yesterday?




is perfectly normal and grammatical.



The second form




If you knew that yesterday why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?




is also grammatical, but has a slightly different meaning. The modal verb "would" has several other meanings apart from its use as a pseudo-tense. Here it either means "why were you not willing to tell me yesterday?"; or else as an epistemic modal, meaning something like "Why could it possibly be the case that you didn't tell me yesterday?"







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 10 hours ago









Colin FineColin Fine

31.6k24560




31.6k24560








  • 5





    I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

    – THiebert
    8 hours ago






  • 6





    To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

    – DJClayworth
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

    – Barmar
    7 hours ago











  • True. I missed that point.

    – Colin Fine
    5 hours ago














  • 5





    I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

    – THiebert
    8 hours ago






  • 6





    To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

    – DJClayworth
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

    – Barmar
    7 hours ago











  • True. I missed that point.

    – Colin Fine
    5 hours ago








5




5





I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

– THiebert
8 hours ago





I think you need to address the flipped word order of "you didn't" and "you wouldn't"

– THiebert
8 hours ago




6




6





To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

– DJClayworth
8 hours ago





To be clear neither "why you didn't tell me yesterday?" nor "why you wouldn't tell me yesterday?" are correct English.

– DJClayworth
8 hours ago




1




1





To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

– Barmar
7 hours ago





To be more clear, "you didn't" and "you wouldn't" are not grammatical in this context, they should be "didn't you" and "wouldn't you".

– Barmar
7 hours ago













True. I missed that point.

– Colin Fine
5 hours ago





True. I missed that point.

– Colin Fine
5 hours ago













2














This seems most natural to me:




If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?




I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:




If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?




or




If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?




I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:




If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)




but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear



Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?



You could say this in the third conditional:




If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]







share|improve this answer
























  • I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • @joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

    – Cascabel
    8 hours ago
















2














This seems most natural to me:




If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?




I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:




If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?




or




If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?




I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:




If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)




but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear



Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?



You could say this in the third conditional:




If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]







share|improve this answer
























  • I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • @joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

    – Cascabel
    8 hours ago














2












2








2







This seems most natural to me:




If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?




I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:




If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?




or




If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?




I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:




If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)




but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear



Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?



You could say this in the third conditional:




If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]







share|improve this answer













This seems most natural to me:




If you knew that yesterday why didn't you tell me [then/at the time/yesterday]?




I'm trying to come up with a sentence using 'wouldn't' but they all feel terribly clumsy. These are about the best I can do:




If you knew yesterday, why would you not have told me?




or




If you knew yesterday, why wouldn't you have told me?




I suppose if you had asked someone about something the day before, but they said they didn't know, but then revealed that they did know, you could use this:




If you already knew, why wouldn't you tell me yesterday? (when I asked)




but it's still a bit clumsy, and the 'didn't' form still sounds better to my ear



Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?
Are you saying you think they are lying about knowing yesterday?



You could say this in the third conditional:




If you knew yesterday, you would have told me [already/yesterday]








share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 11 hours ago









SmockSmock

3816




3816













  • I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • @joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

    – Cascabel
    8 hours ago



















  • I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

    – joe gates
    11 hours ago











  • @joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

    – Cascabel
    8 hours ago

















I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

– joe gates
11 hours ago





I am getting your point but my problem is that based on conditional formula if I am using the past verb in the if part, I have to use "would" in the second part but this is against that rule (third conditional formula)

– joe gates
11 hours ago













@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

– Cascabel
8 hours ago





@joegates This is all contingent on how many conditionals you think actually exist: most EFL/ESL teachers would have it as only 3, but there are also mixed forms. Also...you did not invert the subject and verb in the question, making both sentences sound unnatural.

– Cascabel
8 hours ago


















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