Sentence Correction : Chapter 3 : Q11

[gmat_jul]

In Q 11
"We could start the meeting if Sam was here"

In answer key, it has been mentioned that it should be subjunctive however it can very well be conditional If (past tense).

How can I distinguish between conditional past tense and subjunctive mood? In this case, mood in original sentence (since we always try to retain same meaning) can very well be assumed indicative and hence sentence can be marked as correct.

[esledge]

Great question!

I think the key word in this sentence is "could" (indicating a possibility of action), which is much more hypothetical than "will" (a commitment to action) or even "would" (a promise of action).

I use this test: Can we rearrange the sentence into an "If X, then Y" conditional sentence that makes logical sense? If so, follow conditional sentence rules. If not, then the "if" indicates a hypothetical and we should follow the subjunctive rules.

"If Sam was here, then we could start the meeting" might seem to work as a conditional, but not as well as (for example) "If Sam had arrived, then we could start the meeting."

The trouble is the past tense "was" in the if clause: We could start the meeting (in the present) if he had arrived (and was still there, as implied by the present perfect tense). But we could not start the meeting (in the present) if Sam was simply here yesterday or anytime in the past (as allowed by the simple past tense)--unless it is somehow made clear that he stuck around for the meeting.

Better to use the subjunctive "were" which can only indicate the hypothetical situation of Sam sitting in the room, ready for the meeting.

[gmat_jul]

Thanks Emily

I am able to understand the logic for below
We could start the meeting (in the present) if he had arrived (and was still there, as implied by the present perfect tense). But we could not start the meeting (in the present) if Sam was simply here yesterday or anytime in the past (as allowed by the simple past tense)--unless it is somehow made clear that he stuck around for the meeting.

However I am not able to understand
1) As per strategy guide, one of the acceptable format of conditional sentence is
If clause in past tense followed by then cluase (Would/Could + Base verb)

If could is more hypothetical then will it be okay to have it as one of the option in conditional sentence. I will appreciate if you could give me an example of conditional could

2) "If Sam had arrived, then we could start the meeting."
Is above sentence fine? or Should it be modified as ""If Sam had arrived, then we could have started the meeting."?

3) What will be the correct way of writing below sentence in conditional simple past tense?
"We could start the meeting if Sam was here"

Thanks a lot for your clarifications

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, we use would or could in hypothetical or counterfactual (stating something that you know is not true) sentences.

If I had won the lottery, I could have gone to Tahiti.
If I had won the lottery, I would have gone to Tahiti.

The meaning here is counterfactual - I didn't actually win the lottery but this is what I could or would have done if I had won it.

If I win the lottery, then I could go to Tahiti.
If I win the lottery, then I would go to Tahiti.

Here the meaning is hypothetical - I'm not talking about winning (or not winning) the lottery in the past; instead, I'm talking about possibly winning it now or in the future. I might. I might not. Who knows?

On your second question, you would use "If Sam had arrived, then we could have started the meeting." or "If Sam were to arrive, then we could start the meeting."

The first sentence uses "had arrived," which is past perfect. In order to use past perfect, you have to have another event that also occurred in the past and at a later point in time in the past. "could start" doesn't give us anything in the past. "could have started" gives us present perfect, which is something that started in the past but is still true or still going on today. So that gives us our other event in the past. (By far, the most common tense to pair with past perfect is the simple past. But you can have a more unusual pairing as long as that other verb still indicates some sort of past action.)

For your third question, you would say "We could start the meeting if Sam were here." You'd use "were," not "was," because Sam is not actually here - in the case where you're indicating that this thing isn't actually true / happening, you use "were" instead of "was."