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You've just told your friend a secret, and your friend says:

(1) I would find out eventually.

(2) I would have found out eventually.

Are both possible English?

Community
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JK2
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    Both are good English, but the second is the one appropriate to the situation you describe. – WS2 Feb 23 '15 at 08:33
  • So the first is not correct in the given context? – JK2 Feb 23 '15 at 08:36
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    You are right. It is not correct. If you said to your friend 'Would you know if someone started using your personal data for themselves?', a reply might be 'I would find out eventually'. – WS2 Feb 23 '15 at 08:39

1 Answers1

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"Would find out eventually" is the correct reply. He means that "if you didn't tell me I would find out eventually". This reply is given on the spot.

The second response can only be given in the future looking back to the situation which took place in the past. Then, you can say "If you hadn't told me, I would have found out eventually".

X-Man
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  • @WS2, The answer is correct. I know it is not easy to grasp the subtle issue here but I'll try my best in explaining it. "I would have found" refers to the past time. When you reply to your friend, probably in a few seconds, there is no effective past for you for this proposition to be correct. You could not possibly find out this secret in a few seconds. You don't expect it to find out soon either because you use the word "eventually" indicating it will take a while. So, you cannot use this tense when replying your friend at that time. – X-Man Feb 23 '15 at 16:42
  • @WS2, However, as indicated in the answer, after a while, say a year later when you talk to your friend you can use that structure referring to the past knowing that a reasonable time has passed and you could probably figured that out. – X-Man Feb 23 '15 at 16:44
  • X-Man, regarding your answer, your telling your friend the secret took place in the past, i.e., before the moment of speaking either (1) or (2). So, if you'd like to add any if-clause, it's not "if you didn't tell me" but "if you hadn't told me", which is the correct form for indicating that the telling did take place in the past, don't you think? – JK2 Feb 23 '15 at 22:49