Sentence Correction

Helen would feel better if she swallowed this pill

Explanation. Swallowed is in the present tense of the hypothetical subjunctive mood. The presence of would in the clause Helen would feel better requires that the if-clause be in the hypothetical subjunctive mood. In other words, the verb in the if-clause takes the hypothetical subjunctive mood because would indicates that Helen is unlikely to take the pill.

Doubt: I don't get the Jargon's used above. Can somebody explain the same in more user friendly manner?

Also what would be wrong if i were to rephrase the above sentence as -

Helen would feel better if she swallow this pill

First of all, in your version swallow is wrong, it is better if you had put swallows.

But anyway, would does not go with present tense.

Helen will feel better if she swallows the pill = RIGHT. Definite solution.
Helen will feel better if she swallowed the pill = WRONG.
Helen would feel better if she swallows the pill = WRONG.
Helen would feel better if she swallowed the pill = RIGHT. Hypothetical. Uncertain situation. Would conveys that.

Just a note, the past tense of hypothetical subjunctive would be "Helen would have felt better if she had swallowed the pill."

vineeshp wrote:First of all, in your version swallow is wrong, it is better if you had put swallows.

But anyway, would does not go with present tense.

Helen will feel better if she swallows the pill = RIGHT. Definite solution.
Helen will feel better if she swallowed the pill = WRONG.
Helen would feel better if she swallows the pill = WRONG.
Helen would feel better if she swallowed the pill = RIGHT. Hypothetical. Uncertain situation. Would conveys that.

The second one is not actually wrong. It describes a situation where we know the pill will make Helen feel better, but we don't know whether she swallowed it.
We will be able to write checks today if you deposited money in the bank before.
If you installed new batteries in the lamp, it will last a long time.

Hello Jim,

My first thought while seeing this question was-Helen may feel better if she were to swallow the pill.

What's the difference between the above answer and the given answer.

Are both acceptable?

Best regards,
Utkarsh