CoCap
CoCap
Conditionals & wishes · CEFR C1 · Fluent
A permanent fact about now explaining something that happened before. Rarer than the other mix, and almost never taught.
The shape
If + past, would have + third form
Explain a past action by something that is true about you now.
In Hindi
अभी की कोई स्थायी बात, जो बीते समय की किसी घटना की वजह बताती है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
If I had been braver, I would have asked her then — but I am still not brave. | If I were braver, I would have asked her then. The bravery is a lasting fact about now, so that half stays in the past simple. |
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
If I were braver, I would have asked is a CEFR C1 structure — the fluent band — and it belongs to conditionals & wishes. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the if i were braver, i would have asked →