[Grammar] If I had/had had lunch, I would not be hungry.

[kadioguy]

Please look at the sentences of mine:

a. If I had lunch, I would not be hungry (now).
b. If I had had lunch one hour ago, I would not be hungry (now).
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Are both of them correct?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I would say (b) if I am referring to the past in the conditional clause.
I think the main clause in (a) refers to the future: "If I had lunch (now), I would not be hungry (later)."

 

[kadioguy]

I would say (b) if I am referring to the past in the conditional clause.
I think the main clause in (a) refers to the future: "If I had lunch (now), I would not be hungry (later)."

Do you think the main clauses in both (a) and (b) refer to the future?
If I want to refer to the present time in the main clauses, how can I say them? How about these?

c. If I had lunch, I were not be hungry (now).
d. If I had had lunch one hour ago, I were not be hungry (now).

 

[Matthew Wai]

Actually, I am thinking of logic more than grammar.
Whether you are hungry now depends on whether you ate previously, so the conditional clause should refer to the past if the main clause refers to the present. If the main clause refers to the future, the conditional clause should refer to the present/future: "I would not be hungry after a few hours if I ate something now/in an hour".

c. If I had lunch, I were not be hungry (now).

d. If I had had lunch one hour ago, I were not be hungry (now).

I think the past subjunctive "were" cannot be used in the main clause.

 

[kadioguy]

Actually, I am thinking of logic more than grammar.
Whether you are hungry now depends on whether you ate previously, so the conditional clause should refer to the past if the main clause refers to the present.

But in (a), I meant to say "I don't eat lunch yet, so I am hungry now".
And in (b) "I didn't eat lunch one hour ago, so I am hungry now"

(In Chinese: 我沒吃午飯，所以我（現在）肚子餓了。
(a)如果我吃過午飯，我（現在）就不會肚子餓了。
(b)如果我一小時前有吃過午飯，我（現在）就不會肚子餓了。)

I think the past subjunctive "were" cannot be used in the main clause.

So, how would you modify (c) and (d)? Could you tell me?

 

[Raymott]

Considering the original post, b is better. That is what the past perfect is for.

 

[Matthew Wai]

But in (a), I meant to say "I don't eat lunch yet, so I am hungry now".

I would say "I haven't had lunch yet, so I am hungry now".

(a)如果我吃過午飯，我（現在）就不會肚子餓了。
(b)如果我一小時前有吃過午飯，我（現在）就不會肚子餓了。

(a) If I had had lunch, I would not be hungry (now).
(b) If I had had lunch an hour ago, I would not be hungry (now).
「吃過」refers to a completed action in the past, so the past perfect should be used.

 

[jutfrank]

I think the reason that perhaps MatthewWai and kadioguy are confused is that kadioguy tagged on the word now in brackets at the end of the sentence. What was the purpose of that?!

 

[Matthew Wai]

Depending on context, (a) could imply:
1. I do not have (a packed ) lunch with me. I am hungry now.
2. There is a possibility that I will eat lunch now. I am hungry now. I will be hungry in the future without that lunch in my stomach.
3. There is a possibility that I will eat lunch now. I am not hungry now, I will be hungry in the future without that lunch in my stomach..
4. There is a possibility that I will eat lunch at a future time. I will be hungry in the future without that lunch in my stomach.

The context written in Chinese has excluded all these possibilities, so (a) is simply wrong.

Context is imortantant

Typoman.

 

[kadioguy]

I think the reason that perhaps MatthewWai and kadioguy are confused is that kadioguy tagged on the word now in brackets at the end of the sentence. What was the purpose of that?!

I did that because I meant to say:

(a) "I haven't eaten lunch yet, so I am hungry now".
(b) "I didn't eat lunch one hour ago, so I am hungry now"

I wanted to focus on now but I didn't exactly know whether "...I would not be hungry" could mean that, so I tagged on the word now deliberately.