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If I saw him, I would have told him????


Catalina

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How about this:

 

If I had seen him, I would have told him.

 

(Imagines the opposite of what was true and what could have happened as a result.)

 

The first part of your original sentence is in present tense ("If I saw him..."); if I understand you correctly, we need to talk about the past tense ("If I had seen him...").

 

Another version would be possible, but it would be quite contrived:

 

If I saw him, I would be telling him.

 

(Supposes you are seeing him now; imagines what you would do in this case.)

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Dear Erin

Tanx a lot . u replied so good. But I’m not good at English. yet I’m confused[:o)].

i understand If I had seen him, I would have told him.:)

yet I don’t understand why If I saw him, I would have told him is false, while If I saw him, I would be telling him is correct!!!:(

Please again lead me it’s important to me.

[heartbeat][heartbeat][heartbeat]

 

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You're welcome. :)

 

Originally posted by Catalina

 

If I saw him,

This part is in the present tense, and should be used right now.

 

Originally posted by Catalina

 

I would have told him

 

This part is in the past tense.

 

Take a look at these examples:

 

If I knew her name (right now), I would tell you (right now).

 

This means I don't know her name (right now), but if I did, I would tell you.

 

But if I'm talking about something that happened in the past, I'd say:

 

If I had known her name (yesterday when you asked me), I would have told you (after you asked me yesterday).

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