"If Bob knew he was getting married five years ago in St. Tropez, he wouldn't have believed it." - Pamela Anderson, about her fiancé Kid Rock (whose given name is Robert Ritchie)
Pamela has made three errors in this statement. The quote contains a misplaced modifier and two errors in verb form.
The adverb phrase "five years ago" answers the question, "When?" It is located immediately after the verb "was getting married" and it therefore appears to be modifying this verb. The syntax of this sentence implies that Kid Rock was getting married five years ago. Pamela most likely intended to use the modifier "five years ago" to modify the verb "knew." A modifier should be located as close as possible to the word or words it modifies to avoid confusion.
This sentence contains three verbs:
- "knew"
- "was getting married"
- "would have believed"
The statement describes two things:
- a hypothetical situation that did not actually happen in the past [This involves Kid Rock and his knowledge of his marriage.]
- a reaction [This involves Kid Rock's disbelief.]
Since Pamela is describing the hypothetical knowledge that Kid Rock would have had in the past, the correct form of the verb to use is "had known." Since the knowledge would have been about a future event, the correct form of the verb to use is "would be getting married." Since his reaction would have happened after he obtained the knowledge, Pamela's use of "wouldn't have believed" is correct.
This is Pamela's statement with the modifier placed in a more logical position in the sentence and with a more logical usage of verb forms:
"If Bob had known five years ago he would be getting married in St. Tropez, he wouldn't have believed it."
Post a comment