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Subordinate clause with "would" + present perfect

English Language & Usage Asked by Lina on May 30, 2021

Is the following sentence correct, in particular, is the subordinate clause correct?

You will visit places you would otherwise have never visited?

If it is wrong, how would you say it then?
If it is correct, what is the explanation, i.e., what grammar rules are involved here?


To specify my question: What grammar rule/s explain using future tense (in the main clause) with present perfect tense (in the subordinate clause)? For instance, is the following sentence also grammatically correct?

You will visit places you would otherwise never visit

And if so, what is the difference between these two sentences?

One Answer

The verb phrase would have visited is not the present perfect tense of the verb visit. It's not even a tense at all. It's a mood, specifically the conditional perfect mood of the verb visit.

"You will visit places" in the first half of your sentence uses the future indicative tense will visit of the verb visit, so the ensuing clause "you would otherwise have never visited" expresses an alternate nonreality presented by the word "otherwise" appearing, a nonreality that's totally imaginary and conditional upon the future indicative tense will visit in the previous clause never realizing. That is why the ensuing clause doesn't use any tense but instead uses the conditional perfect mood would have visited of the verb visit.

Answered by Benjamin Harman on May 30, 2021

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