Question

19 January

Korean

English (US)

Question about English (US)

"If the price [were] cheap, you [should] buy it immediately."

Is this sentence grammatically correct? or not correct? or incorrect but sound natural?

See a translation

Answers

notfluentinenglish

19 January

English (US)

unnatural and incorrect, but understandable! just use "Was" or "is" instead of "were" and its perfect!

See a translation

1 like

Highly-rated answerer

hhoc2000

19 January

Korean

Thank you, do you mean 'was' in the past??
like
"If the price [was] cheap(in the past, ex. yesterday), you [should] buy it immediately."??

I mean, you now, 'was' in 'if'-clauses implies hypothetical present.
(ex. If I were/was a bird, I would fly.)

See a translation

1 like

notfluentinenglish

19 January

English (US)

@hhoc2000 yes yes... actually, through your question i realized that it would be more correct to make the entire sentence in past tense!

"i saw an entire bag of oranges on sale for only 2 dollars when i was at costco earlier today"

"really??? thats a good deal! if the price was that cheap, you should have bought it immediately."
(was, should have, bought)-> past tense ^^

See a translation

1 like

Highly-rated answerer

hhoc2000

19 January

Korean

Deleted user

19 January

The sentence is grammatically correct but too correct. People don't say it that way so it doesn't sound natural.

"Were" is the conditional form but you would sound snobby if you said that. "If it was cheap," is the natural way but not the correct way.

See a translation

hhoc2000

19 January

Korean

@PwokYH17uHu6
Do you mean the entire sentence is grammatically correct?

‎"If the price [was] cheap(present), you [should] buy it immediately."

What do you mean by that "If it was cheap," is the natural way but not the correct way. ??

See a translation

Deleted user

19 January

It is technically right but no one says it like that.

See a translation

[News] Hey you! The one learning a language!

Do you know how to improve your language skills❓ All you have to do is have your writing corrected by a native speaker!
With HiNative, you can have your writing corrected by native speakers for free ✍️✨.

Share this question

Copy URL

"If the price [were] cheap, you [should] buy it immediately."Is this sentence grammatically correct? or not correct? or incorrect but sound natural? See a translation

unnatural and incorrect, but understandable! just use "Was" or "is" instead of "were" and its perfect!

The sentence is grammatically correct but too correct. People don't say it that way so it doesn't sound natural. "Were" is the conditional form but you would sound snobby if you said that. "If it was cheap," is the natural way but not the correct way.

It is technically right but no one says it like that.

"If the price [were] cheap, you [should] buy it immediately."

Is this sentence grammatically correct? or not correct? or incorrect but sound natural?

See a translation

The sentence is grammatically correct but too correct. People don't say it that way so it doesn't sound natural.

"Were" is the conditional form but you would sound snobby if you said that. "If it was cheap," is the natural way but not the correct way.