"If you had remote control devices you could save time because your dinner would be ready when you got home."

I think the sentence is correct -- a rather hypothetical situation -- but a colleague thinks it should be "get home". Now I'm not sure and I need a reason why one or the other is correct. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Actually, "got home" seems to be the correct choice here. As you said, it's a hypothetical situation. It's just like conditional sentences type 2 (Your dinner would be ready if you + simple past tense). Now just substitute "when" with "if".

There are two hypothetical/uncertain issues/questions here:

- about "being ready," the most important

- about "getting home," the least important in terms of placing uncertainty on it; you need "got" to express uncertainty/expectation about it (simple past replaces the conditional in subordinates, here after "when"; see Tense Simplification in Swan)

Both work in published books, but the first seems preferred:

8 on "would be ready when you got"
http://books.google.com/books?...22&btnG=Search+Books

2 on "would be ready when you get"
http://books.google.com/books?...22&btnG=Search+Books

however there aren't too many samples of either.

For mood uniformity, I too would choose the first.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marius Hancu,

My two cents:

quote:

If you had remote control devices you could save time because your dinner would be ready when you got home.

This sentence is perfect. It's a weak hypothetical idea. A stronger version of this hypothetical idea is

If you have remote control devices you can save time because your dinner will be ready when you get home.

They actually both work equally well. In conversational English, it's not uncommon, however, to hear people mix the verb forms, sometimes making one "weaker" and another "stronger," so to speak. But technically speaking, these are the models that we go by for creating such a hypothetical situation.

Richard has hit the nail on the head:-)

Can I explain hypothetical adverbial clause of condition this way:

If you use present tense in if-clause, you believe there is possibility that things will happen. If you use past tense in it, you don't believe there is such possibility. And if you use past perfect aspect, you're also talking about something impossible since you're unable to change what has happened.

Am I right? Thanks!

Some grammarians refer to sentences with an if clause as first conditional, second conditional, and third conditional, Michael.

First Conditional:
If I work for that firm, I'll be very happy.
The speaker believes there's a real possibility he can get that job. He's dealing with reality.

Second Conditional:
If I worked for that firm, I'd be very happy.
The speaker doesn't work for that firm, but he's imagining that he has a job with them now and he's talking about his feelings over that imaginary experience. He may get a job with that firm. It's just that he doesn't have one at this moment.

Third Conditional:
If I had worked for that firm, I would have been very happy.
The speaker never worked for that firm, but he's imagining an unreal situation in the past and conjecturing on his feelings in that past time period. It's something than can never happen since it's in the past and over and done with.

I hope these explanations help clarify these three conditional forms, Michael.

Thank you very much, Richard. I'm glad to have seen your kind reply so soon. But it is so late at night in the US now. I guess you are a kind volunteer as the moderator. You needn't have worked so hard. Please go to bed earlier.

You're very welcome, my friend.

By the way, I appreciate your concern over my sleep habits. Don't worry about that because I'm a night owl.

(1) Please call me when you get home.
(2) Please call me when you got home.

Which one is correct?

Thanks.
Momo

No. 1 is correct, Momo.

As written, no. 2 doesn't make any sense.

quote:

"If you had remote control devices you could save time because your dinner would be ready when you got home."

Richard has explained the conditional possibilities well, of course.

I'd like to focus on 'when you got/get home.' This is not actually a conditional; it's a time clause. If you say 'if' -- meaning 'if you get home' -- that has a different meaning, a rather chancy one!

I think that the time clause within the subordinate can also be just a time clause, and not affected by the conditional. We can see this better if we reverse the clauses:

A: I'm thinking about getting an automatic timer for all my appliances.

B: Oh? How come?

A: Well, then when (every time that) I get home every night, my dinner would be ready if I had an automatic timer. I could save a lot of time that way.
_______

I'm not saying that this is the preferable way. I think, though, that it is a possible way.

Putting the time clause in the second conditional to go with the if-clause is also perfectly all right.

quote:

(1) Please call me when you get home.
(2) Please call me when you got home.

Which one is correct?

I also choose (1). No. 2 just gives me the feeling that you hardly expect the guy to get home at all. It's sth like "call me if you ever could get home."

quote:

(1) Please call me when you get home.
(2) Please call me when you got home.

Do you think that the second sentence can exist as a meaningful sentence? I think that such a sentence does not exist.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rachel, Moderator,

quote:

Do you think that the second sentence can exist in a meaningful sentence?

Not really, Rachel. At least, I'm sure I myself will never say that, but if I happen to hear it one day, then I will most probably interpret it the way I just explained. Please let me know if my read makes any sense to you (though I agree it is not common at all).

Let me explain why it doesn't make sense, Mehrdad.

Please call me ... must refer to sometime in the future.

... when you got home refers to a moment in the past.

That's why the sentence doesn't make any sense and why you'll never hear a native speaker say that.

Oh, I do see that, Richard, but I was just thinking about sth else. It gave me a feeling of a hypothetical situation (as we've got in conditionals type 2) using the past tense.
"If you got home", for example, could mean "if you ever could get home" or "you can't get home, but if in a hypothetical situation you could". I know this is not a conditional, but the feeling remains somehow similar for me (maybe mistakenly though).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mehrdadthebigboss,

quote:

If you use past tense in it, you don't believe there is such possibility.

As a footnote to previous comments:

A second conditional may sometimes be used where the speaker doesn't believe in the possibility of the condition; but it can also be used for politeness (e.g. when offering advice) or to put forward a suggestion or hypothesis in a tentative way:

1. If you took the second turning on the right, you would get there much quicker. [polite advice to a driver who has asked for directions]

2. If we changed suppliers, we would save at least £2m in the first ten years. [tentative suggestion in a meeting]

Best wishes,

MrP

Except for the reference to £2m, it applies to AmE, too, MrP.

quote:

A second conditional may sometimes be used where the speaker doesn't believe in the possibility of the condition

This is exactly what I meant. Thus, now you could all have the same interpretation as mine?

Please call me when you got home. (though I don't think you ever get home!)