Were to

"If I were you, I wouldn't eat that apple."


However, I can never be you.


That's why we use "were to": it tells us how improbable or totally unthinkable something is.

If you were to be my boss, I think I would quit the next day.
If I were to become a superhero, I would be terribly surprised.
If we were to fly to Mars tomorrow, we'd better pack our winter coats.

Fill in "were to" + the verb (in brackets) to describe how unlikely the events are.

1. Welcome onboard! This ship is totally state-of-the art. If it (hit), let's say, an iceberg, it would sustain the damage and not sink.

2. If your space flight (cancel), which is very unlikely, we would reimburse you (reimburse means to pay someone's money back, in this case yours).

3. If dinosaurs (reappear) on this earth, some people would find something to complain about it.


IN THE PAST

"If the hurricane were to have hit Miami, thousands would have lost their lives."


In this sentence, we talk about a hurricane that came and went.

It's over now.


Our sentence emphasises a truly unthinkable event -- "if the hurricane had hit (although it wasn't even close to doing that)".


Fill in "were to have" + the verb (in brackets) to describe how unlikely the events would have been.

4. If you (go) to Florida, you would have been there when the hurricane hit.

5. If Hans (fail) his test, he would have been miserable.

6. Vladimir was not wearing a motorcycle helmet. If he (crash) into something, he would have been seriously injured (or worse).

7. I'm so happy they decided not to demolish the old castle. If they
(tear) it down, we wouldn't have any historical architecture left in the city. Just these boring, grey office buildings one after another.


Lastly, fill in the main clauses: tell what would have happened.

8. If you were to have moved to the Caribbean, I (cry) for days and days.

9. If you were to have become a pirate in the Caribbean, you (be) the most notorious one to sail across the seven seas.

10. If you and your pirate crew were to have discovered a treasure, (you + spare) me some of it? Perhaps one golden coin?

Roskapostituksen esto
Valitse mikä tahansa numero, joka on suurempi kuin 2.

Peruuta