Would be destroyed or would have been destroyed

English translation: would have been destroyed

08:36 Nov 27, 2020

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Basic EN grammar question (verb tenses)

English term or phrase: Would be destroyed or would have been destroyed

If firefighters hadn't got there on time, the building .....
1- Would be destroyed
2- Would have been destroyed
Should it be a mixed conditional since the effect of the event has a present indication?

Thank you

Yassine El Bouknify KudoZ activity Questions: 182 (2 open) (10 without valid answers) (14 closed without grading) Answers: 351 Morocco
Local time: 16:43

Selected answer:would have been destroyed

Explanation:
definitely "would have been destroyed".

Selected response from:

Kiet Bach
United States
Local time: 07:43

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

5 +4

would have been destroyed

Kiet Bach

4 +5

would have been destroyed

Bashiqa

5 +3

would have been destroyed

Monica Colangelo

5 +2

would have been destroyed

Posted via ProZ.com Mobile

Teresa Goncalves

Discussion entries: 11

Cilian O'Tuama

Germany

I agree with Sabrina too.

01:01 Dec 30, 2020

Both can be legitimate/correct, even if one may be more likely.

philgoddard

United States

16:12 Nov 27, 2020

If firefighters didn't get there on time, the building would be destroyed

If firefighters hadn't got there on time, the building would have been destroyed

Bashiqa

France

@ Yvonne

11:25 Nov 27, 2020

Thank you. Hopefully your confirmation will bring this to a close and e-mails will stop.

Yvonne Gallagher

Ireland

third conditional sequence of tenses

11:15 Nov 27, 2020

so only 2. is correct here
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/third-conditional.ht...

I thought Kudoz was supposed to be about difficult translations not about basic English grammar?

Sheila Wilson

Spain

Sabrina is right, but in theory only, IMO

10:14 Nov 27, 2020

In practice, the first suggestion will never look good in print, even if it gets said from time to time.

Bashiqa

France

@ Tony

09:52 Nov 27, 2020

I put a confidence level of 4 thinking the question might lead to discussion. I was right. Keep up the good work my man.

Tony M

France

@ Sabrina

09:46 Nov 27, 2020

I can't really agree with your statement: "would be destroyed" in the specific construction as given here could only be correct if 'destroyed' were taken as an adjective being used to describe the current condition of the building now — but such a construction would sound awkward and unnatural in EN here, as the first "had not arrived" invites an immediate reading with a past participle.
Were it to have been "...the building would be in ruins / blackened / weakened", then that reading would work; but the primary force of 'destroyed' here is always going to be as a past participle.

Sabrina Bruna

Italy

Both Yassine's proposals are correct

09:16 Nov 27, 2020

I think that Yassine's proposals are both correct, but
1- "Would be destroyed" refers to the possible present status of the building, now it would be destroyed
2- "Would have been destroyed" refers more to the action resulting from the firefighters not getting there in time, when the fire took place: the fire would have destroyed the building.

Tony M

France

@ Asker

09:07 Nov 27, 2020

Here, it's a simple matter of following the sequence of tenses: the 'had not got there' requires a matching past 'have been destroyed'— the 'would' is a red herring here.

Yassine El Bouknify

Morocco

ASKER

09:03 Nov 27, 2020

Mixed Conditional

It is possible for the two parts of a conditional sentence to refer to different times, and the resulting sentence is a "mixed conditional" sentence. There are two types of mixed conditional sentence.

https://www.ef.com/ca/english-resources/english-grammar/mixe...

Yassine El Bouknify

Morocco

ASKER

What about mixed conditionals?

09:00 Nov 27, 2020

If + past perfect ---- present conditional? I think the statement has a relationship with the present since its effect on the building has to do with the present and future -- the building hasn't been destroyed yet. What do you think of my explanation?

Answers

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

would be destroyed or would have been destroyed

would have been destroyed

Explanation:
definitely "would have been destroyed".

Kiet Bach
United States
Local time: 07:43
Native speaker of:

Chinese

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

would be destroyed or would have been destroyed would have been destroyed

Explanation:
Second of your choices.

Bashiqa
France
Local time: 16:43
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

would be destroyed or would have been destroyed would have been destroyed

Explanation:
If clause with past participle ---> would have + past participle

Monica Colangelo
Argentina
Local time: 12:43
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

9 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

would have been destroyed

Explanation:
:)

Teresa Goncalves
United States
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Would be destroyed or would have been destroyed

English translation: would have been destroyed

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

Would be destroyed or would have been destroyed

English translation: would have been destroyed

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language