Would be OR Would have been...?
I always get confused by this. Let's say someone asked me if I wanted some tea. Should I say:
- Yes, that would be nice. OR
- Yes, that would have been nice.

Generally I know that 'would have been...' refers to the past event that didn't happen, but could have happened (am I right??) I sometimes hear it in conversations relating to present or future and that confuses me a lot. Is there a general rule or something that could help me remember?

Another confusing example is actually from my work, recently my boss has asked me if I liked that combination of clothes together or some other clothes (I work in a fashion boutique) and I didn't know if I should answer her with 'The second one would be nice together' or 'The second one would have been nice together'.

Any help is greatly appreciated :)

Question

Would be OR Would have been...?
I always get confused by this. Let's say someone asked me if I wanted some tea. Should I say:
- Yes, that would be nice. OR
- Yes, that would have been nice.

Generally I know that 'would have been...' refers to the past event that didn't happen, but could have happened (am I right??)  I sometimes hear it in conversations relating to present or future and that confuses me a lot. Is there a general rule or something that could help me remember?

Another confusing example is actually from my work, recently my boss has asked me if I liked that combination of clothes together or some other clothes (I work in a fashion boutique) and I didn't know if I should answer her with 'The second one would be nice together' or 'The second one would have been nice together'.

Any help is greatly appreciated :)

Answer

The correct answer to your boss' question is "would be nice." Would be refers to the future. So it would be nice if my husband takes me to dinner for our anniversary next year.

Would have been refers to the past. It would have been nice for use to go to dinner for our anniversary this year, but the baby was sick.

I hope that explains the difference.

Answers · 2

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