(1)If dogs bit his masters, it would have been big news 30 years ago.
(2)If dogs had bitten his masters, it would have been big news 30 years ago.
Are both sentences natural?
2006-12-11 20:11:27 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
No. Both sentences are incorrect.
("Dogs" -- [plural] "his" -- [singular]).
(dog = his/its). singular
(dogs = their). plural
Aside from subject-predicate conflicts, both sentences are also poorly constructed forms know as "Dangling Participles." A better way to say this is...
"Thirty years ago, it would have been big news if dogs had bitten their masters."
2006-12-11 20:18:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
(1)If dogs bit his masters, it would have been big news 30 years ago.
(2)If dogs had bitten his masters, it would have been big news 30 years ago.
(1)It should either be: If dogs bit their masters, it would have been bitg news 30 years agol or If a dog bit his master, it would have been big news 30 years ago.
(2) The second is grammatically wrong even if you change the
personal pronoun "his" into "their".
2006-12-11 21:32:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No they are unfortunately incorrect, try changing from plural to singular, dogs=dog, if one dog bit his masters, it would have been big news 30 years ago. (masters should remain plural if that was your intention. if you wanted to write that more than one dog bit someone, you should write ...dogs bit their master.
(2) same thing about the dog, choose singular or plural, bit and had bitten is ok.
I hope this answers your question!
2006-12-11 20:24:32 · answer #3 · answered by jojje 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good effort but the aren't quite right
If a dog had bitten its master, it would have been big news 30 years ago.
well done anyway though you were pretty close, we knew what you meant.
2006-12-11 22:37:59 · answer #4 · answered by gerrifriend 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 if dogs bit their masters,...
2 If dogs had bitten their masters,...
either way dogs are plural. the verbage is fine either is natural and allowable.
2006-12-11 20:16:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
"Dogs" - plural "His" single. "Their" would be more appropriate for "Dogs". "If" is conditional (1) sounds OK to me. The sentences are not natural as they are not "big" news, then and now - more a hyperbole and a teaser!
2006-12-11 20:31:47 · answer #6 · answered by Tom Cat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If dogs had bitten their masters....
Syntax Wizard
2006-12-11 20:24:23 · answer #7 · answered by Syntax Wizard 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. They are grammatically unnatural, sorry.
2006-12-11 20:15:02 · answer #8 · answered by eselgeist 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋