What would you say to your parents....

[Silverobama]

I watched a movie about a man traveled back to the time when his parents were still alive by using a time machine. I asked my friends by posting a thread on social media:

What would you say to your parents if there's a time machine you could take back to their time?

I don't think the question is natural. Please help me with a better version.

 

[stanislaw.masny]

I'm not a teacher or a language purist, but I would ask: "What would you tell your parents if there was a time machine that could take you back to their times?"

 

[PeterCW]

I I am not a grammarian but as a native speaker I would say "...if there was a time machine that could ..."

 

[tedmc]

I don't think "time" should be plural unless the parents existed at different times.

 

[5jj]

I'd say What would you say to your parents if there were a time machine you could take back to their time?

 

[emsr2d2]

Given that your opening post makes it clear that the person's parents are now dead, I'd make sure the question reflected that.

If a time machine could take you back to when your parents were alive, what would you say to them?