If I were/If I had been

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If I were/If I had been
Message from shaaraf posted on 07-04-2013 at 04:28:30 (D | E | F)
Hello,

Can you help me please?
Thanks a lot in advance...!
"If I were you, I would feel the same way". is (second conditional)sentence.
Do we use "If I had been you, I would have felt the same way" in third conditional?
Or what should be use in third conditional instead of "I were"?

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Edited by lucile83 on 07-04-2013 09:01

Re: If I were/If I had been from notrepere, posted on 07-04-2013 at 04:41:46 (D | E)
Hello

Yes.

Re: If I were/If I had been from rogermue, posted on 07-04-2013 at 09:45:24 (D | E)
Hello shaaraf,

interesting problem. English is not my mother tongue but all the same I should say that
1- If I had been you, I would have felt the same way.
is absolutely correct.

But in spoken language such careful use of tenses is often simplified, because it needs analysis while speaking.
So I think you will hear
2 - If I were you, I would have felt the same way
in spoken language, but it is a bit careless and skilled speakers would prefer the variant (1).

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Edited by lucile83 on 07-04-2013 12:11
Sorry but 'if I were you, I would have felt...' is definitely incorrect, even in spoken English.

Re: If I were/If I had been from lucile83, posted on 07-04-2013 at 12:16:42 (D | E)
Hello,

"If I were you, I would feel the same way". is a second conditional sentence....yes
"If I had been you, I would have felt the same way" is in the third conditional ...yes
Anything else is not correct.

Re: If I were/If I had been from djohrahocine, posted on 07-04-2013 at 13:26:55 (D | E)
Hello,
Absolutely,I do agree with Lucile.
Regards.

Re: If I were/If I had been from ekaoak, posted on 12-04-2013 at 22:35:09 (D | E)
Hello all!
It looks like a mixed conditional, where conditional part is second conditional sentence, and main part is third conditional sentence. So I think "If I were you, I would feel the same way" is correct, if it refers to a situation in the past.
Check this exercise Link

Re: If I were/If I had been from traviskidd, posted on 13-04-2013 at 09:29:16 (D | E)
Hello.

I think "If I were you, I would have felt..." is OK, especially in spoken English, but even more generally. It is rather strange (and "heavy") to say "If I had been you", since if I had been you then, I would still be you now, and if I were you now, I would have been you then!

And of course, when speaking we do have a tendency to speak more simply and informally; it is more important to make oneself easily and quickly understood than to make sure one's tenses are in perfect agreement.

See you.

Re: If I were/If I had been from catweazle, posted on 13-04-2013 at 10:25:07 (D | E)
If I had been you I would have... Refers to an event in the past
If I were you I would... Refers to a suggestion for what the person should do next.
(Yesterday) "I know you missed the bus, but if I were you I would have walked"
(Now) "I know you have missed the bus, but if I were you I would start walking"

It is a bit confusing because "were" is normally past tense, but it can also be conditional

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