This use of subjunctive "were" is not a reversed "if", as PeterMollenburg said, but I would add that yes, "were they to enter" has a very, very similar meaning to "if they were to enter" ~ "if they happened or decided to enter".
By the way, this highly limited pattern also occurs with the pluperfect ("had done"): "if I had talked to him, he would have become my friend" ~ "had I talked to him, he would have become my friend". "Her presentation would have equally shined if it had been delivered in Mandarin, but she did it in English" ~ "Her presentation would have equally shined had it been delivered in Mandarin...". These sentence pairs say the same thing.
"once got out it will be catastrophic"
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Re: "once got out it will be catastrophic"
learningchayse wrote:Does the following setence sound natural? Especially the "once..." part.
It strikes me hard that emotions of all types buried in our subconscious seem to be more intense than we imagine that once got out it will be catastrophic.
Much appreciated.
It strikes me
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Re: "once got out it will be catastrophic"
Zegpoddle wrote:learningchayse wrote:Does the following setence sound natural? Especially the "once..." part.
It strikes me hard that emotions of all types buried in our subconscious seem to be more intense than we imagine that once got out it will be catastrophic.
Much appreciated.
It strikes mehardforcefully/powerfully that emotions of all types buried in our subconscious seem to be more intense than we imagine and that once got out,it willthey would be catastrophic.
Thanks for the help, Zegpoddle!^ ^
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Re: "once got out it will be catastrophic"
Ser wrote:This use of subjunctive "were" is not a reversed "if", as PeterMollenburg said, but I would add that yes, "were they to enter" has a very, very similar meaning to "if they were to enter" ~ "if they happened or decided to enter".
By the way, this highly limited pattern also occurs with the pluperfect ("had done"): "if I had talked to him, he would have become my friend" ~ "had I talked to him, he would have become my friend". "Her presentation would have equally shined if it had been delivered in Mandarin, but she did it in English" ~ "Her presentation would have equally shined had it been delivered in Mandarin...". These sentence pairs say the same thing.
Thanks! I'll try to use them.
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Re: "once got out it will be catastrophic"
PeterMollenburg wrote:I agree. Still clumsy. The “will” in particular does not sit well with me. On the back of Iverson’s suggestion, I suggest this rewording :
It strikes me that emotions of all types buried in our subconscious appear to be so much more intense than we acknowledge/understand/realise, to the extent that were they to enter the conscious mind, the result could be potentially catastrophic.
Here is the "with" construct I would normally use - is it correct?
It strikes me that emotions of all types buried in our subconscious appear to be so much more intense than we acknowledge/understand/realise, with potentially catastrophic results were they to enter the conscious mind.
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