mixed conditional?

[hela]

Dear teachers,

I found this sentence in a text and I don't understand why there is a mixed conditional in it. Would you please help me out?

After the demonstration, the family, however, did not buy his product. Instead, they politely but firmly told him that they would give him a call if they want to buy a vacuum cleaner later.

Why not:
a) will give him a call if they want
OR
b) would give him a call if they wanted

Thanks
Hela

 

[5jj]

your b) version is more natural than the original.

 

[hela]

Hello everyone,

Would you please tell me if this sentence is correct ? To my mind it's not, but is it possible to keep that idea using a mixed conditional?

"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, what will you be doing today?"

I know that normally we should have simple past + present conditional (would) and "today" should possibly be replace by "tomorrow" or "next year":
"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, what would you be doing [today?] / tomorrow / next year."

But is it possible to have a mixed conditional (type 2 + type 1) in this sort of sentence? If yes, should "today" be replaced by another time expression?
"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, what will you do / be doing _________?"

Thanks a million,
Hela

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello everyone,

Would you please tell me if this sentence is correct ? To my mind it's not, but is it possible to keep that idea using a mixed conditional?

"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, what will you be doing today?" No.

I know that normally we should have simple past + present conditional (would) and "today" should possibly be replace by "tomorrow" or "next year":
"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, what would you be doing [today?] / tomorrow / next year."

But is it possible to have a mixed conditional (type 2 + type 1) in this sort of sentence? If yes, should "today" be replaced by another time expression?
"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, what will you do / be doing _________?"

Thanks a million,
Hela

"Supposing you were not accepted to this university ..." suggests to me that the application is still under consideration and the person is questioning what the applicant might do if the application is turned down. On that basis, "... what will/would you be doing today?" doesn't fit.

"Supposing you were not accepted to this university, where would you like to attend university instead?"

If the question is going to end "what would you be doing today?" then it needs to start "Supposing you had not been accepted to this university ..."

The construction "What will you be doing today?" really only means "What are your plans for today?"