Do you think "would have" can be used as a more polite and humble version of "would" ?
Eg.
That would be great! - the normal way of saying it
That would have been great! - a humbler way of saying it
Do you think that is the case?
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Answers · 4
2
No, it has nothing to do with being polite or humble.
If the thing/event might happen in the future, use "would." If you're wishing something in the past had been different, use "would have."
EXAMPLES:
- We should hang out next weekend.
- That would be great!
- I wish you could've joined on the trip last week.
- Me too! That would have been great!
1
I can see how it might appear that way, but no, it doesn't.
In your examples, "That would be great!" is the speaker talking about something that will happen in the future, and "That would have been great!" is when the speaker is talking about something that happened in the past or something that the person wanted to happen in the past.
1
No, not at all. This has nothing to do with humility and everything to do with time.
Example 1:
Your friend phones you and says:
"The pizza restaurant just delivered two delicious pizzas by mistake. I don't know what to do with the spare one. Should I bring it round to your house?"
You say: "Wow! That would be great! I love pizza".
Example 1:
Your friend phones you and says:
"The pizza restaurant delivered two delicious pizzas by mistake. I didn't know what to do with the spare one. I wanted to give it to you, but you didn't answer your phone. So I fed it to my dog.
You say: "Oh... that would have been great. What a shame. "
Now can you see the difference?
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