Future Perfect Subjunctive?!

[RonPurewal]

Ron,

In advanced varab and comparison section, Manhattan SC guide says that,

"a condition should be expressed by using If and use of inverted modal verb such as 'should' be avoided.

can you pls explain.

Riyaz

If the book says that, we should edit it. These constructions don't mean the same thing, so it's dangerous to generalize in this way.

The difference is not grammatical; it's a difference in the speaker's perception of the likelihood of the event.

- "If X happens..." portrays X as decently likely. It's not an extremely unlikely, remote, or outlandish possibility.

"- "If X should happen..." (= "Should X happen...") implies that X is quite unlikely.

That's basically the difference.
So, for instance, a good writer would be more likely to write "Should nuclear war break out tomorrow..." than to write "If nuclear war breaks out tomorrow..." (unless the writer actually believes that this is a decent possibility!)

[thangvocao]

HI Ron,
Regarding the question

A historian attempting to predict in the 1870′s which nation would take over world leadership from the British probably would have guessed Bismarck’s Prussia and been quite wrong.
A) have guessed Bismarck’s Prussia and been

If the sentence is governed by Hypothesis Subjunctive mode, then the verb form of the sentence should be in Simple Past (SC guide pg.111-line17). So, how A could be the correct answer, since "have guessed" is in Present perfect.
Am I missing something here?

[RonPurewal]

The terminology mostly just confuses me, but I'll give an answer to what I think is your question. (:

• The verb to which you're referring is actually "would have guessed", not just "have guessed".

• The form that resembles a normal tense (i.e., without "would") corresponds to the "If" part of a hypothetical. Not the "then" part.
Back then, most historians who guessed xxxx would have picked yyyy. (IF they guessed xxxx, they would have picked yyyy.)

• Depending on the context, this form doesn't have to resemble the simple past tense; it could also resemble other tenses, too. E.g., If I had known you back then, I would have asked for your help in that situation.