“If I would have…”
When talking about something that didn’t happen in the past, many English speakers use the conditional perfect (if I would have done) when they should be using the past perfect (if I had done):
Lesson on “If I would have…” vs “If I had…”
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Speaking as an old teacher of English in the high school, I am irritated, for no crucial reason, when reading or hearing the phrase: “if I would have…” Sounds perfectly ungrammatical to me…and essentially ignorant. I know the language must change over time, but let it change with some degree of logic or perception, not because of ignorance!
August 26th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
This is also a fairly common in French..”Si je l’aurais su.. je serais allée..” I cringe!