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by djaytg » Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:02 am
To develop more accurate population forecasts,
demographers would have to know a great deal more than they
do now about the social and economic determinants of
fertility.

Would is used to refer to the future in the past
But here would is referring to the future in relation to the present

Can someone please explain?
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:47 am
djaytg wrote:To develop more accurate population forecasts,
demographers would have to know a great deal more than they
do now about the social and economic determinants of
fertility.

Would is used to refer to the future in the past
But here would is referring to the future in relation to the present

Can someone please explain?
Here, would serves to indicate the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.
One purpose of the subjunctive is to indicate an event that is HYPOTHETICAL.

GOAL: To develop more accurate forecasts.
PRESENT PROBLEM: The demographers do not know enough.
There is one way that demographers could -- HYPOTHETICALLY, in the future -- develop more accurate forecasts:
They WOULD HAVE TO KNOW MORE than THEY ACTUALLY DO KNOW now.
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by djaytg » Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:15 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Here, would serves to indicate the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.
One purpose of the subjunctive is to indicate an event that is HYPOTHETICAL.

GOAL: To develop more accurate forecasts.
PRESENT PROBLEM: The demographers do not know enough.
There is one way that demographers could -- HYPOTHETICALLY, in the future -- develop more accurate forecasts:
They WOULD HAVE TO KNOW MORE than THEY ACTUALLY DO KNOW now.
Thanks Mitch,
Can you shed some light on what type of indicators to look in a sentence for Hypothetical Subjunctive mood?
a wish,if constructions,hypothetical situations
Anything else?
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by Tommy Wallach » Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:19 pm
Hey Djay,

You pretty much nailed the list right there. A perennial favorite is the use of "were" with "if":

If the company were more successful, they wouldn't be quite so maneuverable.

And you pointed out the "I wish" form:

I wish I were a tumbleweed, going nowhere fast.

Thankfully, the GMAT doesn't test this all that much (just enough that you need to know about it!)

Good luck!

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by tanviet » Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:05 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
djaytg wrote:To develop more accurate population forecasts,
demographers would have to know a great deal more than they
do now about the social and economic determinants of
fertility.

Would is used to refer to the future in the past
But here would is referring to the future in relation to the present

Can someone please explain?
Here, would serves to indicate the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.
One purpose of the subjunctive is to indicate an event that is HYPOTHETICAL.

GOAL: To develop more accurate forecasts.
PRESENT PROBLEM: The demographers do not know enough.
There is one way that demographers could -- HYPOTHETICALLY, in the future -- develop more accurate forecasts:
They WOULD HAVE TO KNOW MORE than THEY ACTUALLY DO KNOW now.
"would do" when used in subjective may or may not go with "if clause" . In this sentence, there is no "if clause"
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by Mission2012 » Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:47 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
djaytg wrote:To develop more accurate population forecasts,
demographers would have to know a great deal more than they
do now about the social and economic determinants of
fertility.

Would is used to refer to the future in the past
But here would is referring to the future in relation to the present

Can someone please explain?
Here, would serves to indicate the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.
One purpose of the subjunctive is to indicate an event that is HYPOTHETICAL.

GOAL: To develop more accurate forecasts.
PRESENT PROBLEM: The demographers do not know enough.
There is one way that demographers could -- HYPOTHETICALLY, in the future -- develop more accurate forecasts:
They WOULD HAVE TO KNOW MORE than THEY ACTUALLY DO KNOW now.
Hi Mitch,

Could you please help me understand why is this construction Hypothetical subjunctive (HS)
I know that HS is used when there is wish or unlikely situation but nothing of that sorts is conveyed in the sentence.

If HS then conditional

Why i can't assume this sentence to be a case of no uncertainty - If present then future
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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:03 am
Mission2012 wrote:Why i can't assume this sentence to be a case of no uncertainty - If present then future
The answer choices don't give us that option.
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by vietmoi999 » Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:24 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
djaytg wrote:To develop more accurate population forecasts,
demographers would have to know a great deal more than they
do now about the social and economic determinants of
fertility.

Would is used to refer to the future in the past
But here would is referring to the future in relation to the present

Can someone please explain?
Here, would serves to indicate the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.
One purpose of the subjunctive is to indicate an event that is HYPOTHETICAL.

GOAL: To develop more accurate forecasts.
PRESENT PROBLEM: The demographers do not know enough.
There is one way that demographers could -- HYPOTHETICALLY, in the future -- develop more accurate forecasts:
They WOULD HAVE TO KNOW MORE than THEY ACTUALLY DO KNOW now.
Acording to "advance learner's grammar" book, "would" can be used to show about a desire which is IMPOSSIBLE TO FULLFILL. for example,
I would like to be a man ( I am a girl)
I like to be a man ( I am a boy and can be a man next year)

I do not see "would " is used for hypethetical (unreal) action. But I guess Mint Hunch is correct.

the point is that in this sentence, author means that the knowing is unreal. we do not need to identify the action is possible or impossible, real or hypothetical,
we only need to know that both the meaning is acceptable. other error will lead us to the correct choice.

it is clear that grammar books do not explain clearly about this use of would, about hypothetical/impossible action which "would" present.

gmat do not test this identifying.

"would" is also used to say about a present request but is more polite than "will"
"would" is also used to say about future, viewed in present but is less likely than "will". for example: now I say it will rain. Now, I say it would rain. the second sentence is less certain than the first sentence. "would" in the second sentence is not future in the past: yesterday I said it would rain.
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by vietmoi999 » Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:23 am
we used to see hypethetical/unreal action is presented in the folowing patterns:

- after if clause: if did, then would do
- after verb wish: I wish ... would do.

in all above patterns, the action in "would do" is hypothetical or impossible to realize at present

to do this, someone would have to do

in above sentence, "would have to do" show an impossible/unreal/hypothetical action. we feel hard, because we do not see an explanation in any grammar books of this pattern. we have to accept this new pattern on gmat og.

it is clear that gmat tests many grammar points which is rarely explained in grammar books. this is hard for us.
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