Reply to "If the first vampire <came> into existence"

Gustavo, Co-ModeratorProfessor of Legal and Financial Translation

@deepcosmos posted:
1. Then, could I be understood that past perfect - such as 'had come/bitten' of in a conditional is never simplified into simple past?

The only case I can think of where the past perfect could be simplified into past simple in an if-clause could occur when both express real past, for example:

- If you said a vampire had bitten you, how come you have no marks on your neck?
- If you said a vampire bit you, how come you have no marks on your neck?

@deepcosmos posted:

2. When you view 'came/bit' as real past and 'would have been' as hypothetical future from a past perspective, the whole sentence is a mixed one with an indicative mood in the if clause and a conditional one in the main clause?

Exactly.

6/28/221:58 PM

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