can you explain about "would have had to.." は英語 (アメリカ) で何と言いますか？

Can you tell me what this sentence means? "I would have had to tell you earlier" I just assume it's pretty similar to "I had to tell you earlier" but I'm really not sure. Please show me example sentences with "would've had to" thank you!

回答

karennishiyama

2017年9月19日

英語 (アメリカ)

If you wanted to come to my party, you would've had to have asked me earlier.

If I were to go to that concert, I would have had to have saved more money.

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applemint

2017年9月19日

韓国語

@karennishiyama thank you. Does this "would have had to" need have+p.p after "to" all the time? I saw this grammar in a book which I've never seen before so I don't even know exactly what that means. It's so confusing. And the first sentence that you provided can be translated by "If you had wanted to come to my party, you should have asked me earlier"? If yes, what's the difference between those two, can you give me more explanation?

karennishiyama

2017年9月19日

英語 (アメリカ)

So for the first part, it can be confusing because you have to match the verb tenses for both parts of the sentence. These types of sentences are called "conditional statements." They're made up of an "If clause" and a "then clause." The first example I gave would be called a Type 3 conditional statement. They're sentences that provide a condition for things that are impossible due to the "then clause" being in the past. It would be impossible for her to come to my party because it already happened in the past. But, if she had asked me before the party, she could have gone.

In the example I gave, you do have to use the have +p.p in order for the sentence to be correct. But, there are other forms of these conditional statements that can be used without "if."
Example:
She would have had to ask me earlier to get an invitation to my party.
It's the same meaning, but in this sentence format, you don't use the have + p.p.

As for the second part, yes, fundamentally they mean the same thing. "Should" has more of a suggestive tone. "Would have had to have" is the more "barebone" way of laying out what would have been required. It's confusing, for sure, but using "should" there would imply that you wanted the person to go, and you are suggesting what they should have done. (I know I used "should" there, but I can't think of any other word to get my point across.) But if you use "would have had to have..." it doesn't have that same suggestion. It's just stating what would be required, not necessarily that you want them to do that.

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applemint

2017年9月19日

韓国語

@karennishiyama thank you so much for your detailed and perfect explanation!! I feel like I've taken a private English lesson. I really appreciate it.