Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2013 May 12

= May 12 =

Correct interpretation
In the sentence: "Had the United States come up with a list of targets in Germany to drop atomic bombs, should the war have continued past the point when the atomic bombs were ready to be delivered?" Is the 'had' here a conditional? In the same sense that "Had you call her, should you know she was cheating on you"? OsmanRF34 (talk) 22:51, 12 May 2013 (UTC)


 * That is how I would interpret it. But I find it odd and unusual to use that form when the main clause is a question, perhaps because a question uses inversion for a different purpose. --ColinFine (talk) 23:09, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
 * No, the 'had' is past tense. The 'should' is conditional. The question is not asking, "Would the war have continued past the point when the atomic bombs were ready to be delivered, if the United States had come up with a list of targets in Germany to drop atomic bombs?" It is asking whether, in case (=should) the war continued past the point when the atomic bombs were ready to be delivered, had the United States come up with a list of targets in Germany to drop atomic bombs.  KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( TALK )  00:10, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree with that. Maybe a shorter version would be: "Did the United States have a list of targets in Germany, had (= in the event that) the war continued past the point when the atomic bombs were ready to be delivered?".  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  01:32, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Ah. I see. Yes, I think you're right. As both clauses are inverted, either one could be the question and the other the conditional, and your interpretation is more convinving than mine. --ColinFine (talk) 23:07, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Check. --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  10:57, 14 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I obviously agree with JackofOz and KägeTorä here. I mainly wanted to add I'm not really sure you're trying to say with "Had you call her, should you know she was cheating on you" as the sentence doesn't make much sense to me. From your comments here and in the question on Humanities I think you may be trying to say "Would you have called her if you knew (or had known) she was cheating on you?" but while there are various ways you could phrase this, I don't think yours is close to standard English (although not claiming to be an expert myself). Nil Einne (talk) 16:51, 13 May 2013 (UTC)