I REFER to the answer you gave to a question on Sept 17, 2009.

Fact: I don’t have wings and can’t fly.

Your answer was “I was so happy that I felt as if I had had wings and could fly.”

Shouldn’t it be “I was so happy that I felt as if I had wings and could fly.”?

What about this question?

Fact: The child won’t burst.

Answer: The child was so excited that he looked as if he would burst. – Jacky Khor

1. No, it shouldn’t be “I was so happy that I felt as if I had wings and could fly.” BUT “I was so happy that I felt as if I had had wings and could fly.”

As I explained to the reader who asked the question, the verb after “as if ” in a clause talking about things that are not true, goes back one tense from the verb before “as if”. So, the sentence you refer to, which begins with the past tense, should have the clause beginning with “as if” in the past perfect tense. Here are some examples, from various sources, of what I meant:

“He felt as if he had had a resurrection into a new world, and did not know what to do with himself there, the old interests being left behind.” (from Daniel Deronda by George Eliot, Ch.8)

The sentence is about a young man who has just recovered from the trauma of finding out that his love for his cousin is unrequited. The novel is not science fiction and he wasn’t literally resurrected into a new world.

“... It was amazing; I felt as if I had won the pools I was just so shocked.” (the winner of The Independent’s Story of the Year contest recalling his reaction when told he had won the contest, not the pools – from The Independent online, May 6, 1995)

“When I walk with you I feel as if I had a flower in my buttonhole.” (William Makepeace Thackeray, 19th century English novelist. He obviously didn’t have a flower in his buttonhole when he walked with “you”. Here he begins with the present tense, but uses the past tense after “as if”.)

2. In your statement of fact, “The child won’t burst.”, you use the future tense verb “will not burst”. In your answer you use “would burst” after “as if”. “Would” is the past form of “will” and is used when a sentence using “will” is converted to one that needs to go back one tense, for instance in reported speech. (e.g. “I will help you.” becomes “He said he would help me.”)

So, your conversion of statement of fact to a sentence using “as if” still entails going back one tense.

Closing notice

I WOULD appreciate it if you could comment on the following.

Dear Customer,

Our office will be closed on/from Chinese New Year Eve Feb 2, 2011 (9am-1pm) to Feb 6, 2011, will resume operation/operations on Feb 7, 2010. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you “Happy New Year”.

Thank you. (Do we need to put thank you?)

The Management
xxxxxx Sdn Bhd – MOE reader

Below is your notice with my corrections and choices of words (in bold and underlined):

Dear Customers,

Our office will be closed from Chinese New Year’s Eve Feb 2, 2011 (9am-1pm) to Feb 6, 2011, and will resume operations from Feb 7, 2010. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year.

The Management
xxxxxx Sdn Bhd

I don’t think it’s necessary to write “Thank you” at the end. Wishing the customers a Happy New Year should be enough.

More than mistakes in tenses

I WOULD appreciate it if you could comment on the following tenses.

1. The bank will courier the documents to Malaysia Embassy in London, please sign the documents in front of the Malaysia Ambassador to London, after signed, please courier back to the bank.

(A friend is working in London. Are the above tenses correct?)

2. Is it “How would I know?” or “How should I know?” – MOE Chinese reader

1. Most of the tenses are correct, but there are many other things wrong with that sentence. The main errors are set down below. I will indicate the other errors by typing the corrected or added words in bold:

a. It should not be one long sentence, but two or three sentences. Some of the commas should be full stops.

b. There is no “Malaysia Embassy” in London. Malaysia is a Commonwealth country, and its “embassies” in other Commonwealth countries (including Britain) are called “High Commissions”. Also, its “Ambassador” is called a “High Commissioner” in other Commonwealth countries. In addition, your friend should use the adjective form “Malaysian” before “High Commission” and “High Commissioner”.

The corrected version should read as follows:

“The bank will courier the documents to the Malaysian High Commission in London. Please sign the documents in front of the Malaysian High Commissioner. After you have signed them, please courier them back to the bank.”

2. “How should I know?” is used when expressing surprise and irritation when someone asks you a question whose answer he expects you to know. The online Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives its meaning as “I cannot be expected to know!”

For example, if someone asks a man where his old girlfriend is, he might answer: “How should I know? Ask her new boyfriend.”

“How would I know?” is sometimes used with the same meaning, but it is less commonly used than “How should I know?” Here is an example of its use, by British writer Blake Morrison, writing about a father who has just come home from work on Christmas Eve, and is in a bad mood:

One child is practising Hark! The Herald Angels Sing on the piano: “Must she keep playing that?” he snarls. Another child wants to know how to spell frankincense: “How would I know? Ask your mother.” (The Guardian, Dec 20, 2003)

• Survey: Britons love tea more than coffee
• New York City relies on automation technologies to face challenges of urbanisation
• Oil palm firms team up with Sabah to protect Malua Forest Reserve
• Powering the Big Apple
• Build robust cities
• Fun with words
• Rail marvel in New York
• Fun with synonyms
• Carnegie Hall gets green facelift
• Win The Good Food Cook Book!

Latest Jobs from Star-Jobs