If..then tense construction (Man. SC Guide)

[gs.abhinav]

Hi all,

The section on If..then tense constructions in the SC guide states the following 3 rules -

Present
If she wins the lottery...she will give away half her money..

Past
If she won the lottery...she would give away half her money..

Past Perfect
If she had won the lottery...she would have given away half her money..

Can someone explain, which one of the above rules applies to the following sentence..I have a feeling that it is grammatically incorrect..

"For many people, household labor remains demanding even if they can afford household appliances their grandparents would have found miraculous"

Thanks

[tim]

We are talking about the responses of two different categories of people in two different time periods to the appliances. This example is in marked contrast to the three you provide above where each conclusion is a causal effect of the hypothetical..

The appropriate connection here is not between "can afford" and "would have found" but between "can afford" and "remains demanding". Because both of these are in the present tense, the construction is valid..

[gs.abhinav]

Oh I see now.. Thanks a lot Tim, that was very helpful.

[tim]

glad to help!