Could any native english speaker help me with this sentence?

Question

I'm learning english as a second language.
Sometimes english tense is very confusing.
Could you tell me the differences?

1) If I 'collect' all of my tears for a thousand years
2) If I 'collected' all of my tears for a thousand years
3) if I 'had collected' all of my tears for a thousand years
would it be enough to express all my heart?

Do 1),2),3) sentences all make sense?
Which is correct?

Thank you :))

omg, I was really touched.
Thank you very much, my online english teachers. XD
now I came to know clearly thanks to your answers.

Answer 1

2) is the closest to correct

If I collected all of my tears for a thousand years, would it be enough to express all my "love".

It makes more sense to use "love" than "heart". or one could end with, "all of the feelings in my heart".

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

They all make sense, and they are all correct, though the meanings change slightly with each.

1 -- shows on ongoing act that has not yet finished. It is understood to be "If I (continue to) collect ...."

2 -- shows an action past, the collection is done.

3 -- even though the action is past here, it has never been done. "If I had collected" gives the impression that no collection was done, but "if it had been done" this is the result.

In this poetic sense, the 3rd is probably the best one to use, since no one could collect tears for a thousand years.

Answer 4

One and two are both equally correct.

3) would cause you to have to change the second part of the sentance. it would sound like this. "If I had collected all of my tears for a thousand years, would it have been enough?" and it would be in the past tense, talking about something that you might have done in the past, but ended up not doing.

Answer 5

Since all 3 sentences begin with "If", it means it is a theoretical, meaning it may or may not happen, but it could happen. The first one, Thinking of present or future, what would happen. The second, is speaking of past possibility, or of the future looking back at the past, if I had done it in the past, would it have been enough. The third one means the isame as the second, wiht the possibility that it is already completed action at the time the sentence is spoken. All are correct, but to be used in differing situations and times.

Answer 6

1) If I 'collect' all of my tears for a thousand years
2) If I 'collected' all of my tears for a thousand years
3) if I 'had collected' all of my tears for a thousand years


(1) if i collect all of my tears for a thousand years you wont see me cry.

(2) if i collected all of my tears for thousand years i'll have a thousand tears

(3) if i had collected all my tears for a thousand years i could finally smile.

collect means to do something present.
collected is past and might still be doing it (not always though)
if you had done something means what it would be like if you did collect it.

hope this helps

Answer 7

It is about tense or when in time these things happen.
1 if I collect my tears, now and in the future.

2 If I collected all my tears that is in esentially in the past.

the Of in all of my tears is not nescessary.

3 is like 2 but extra words are needed to express all ....... that is dear in ........ my heart

Answer 8

1. Implies the collection will start in the future.
2. Implies the collection will start now, for the future.
3. Implies the collection started in the distant past.

Answer 9

They all seem to make grammatical sense. (1) refers to an idea in the present or future. (2) is roughly the same. (3) makes it sound as if it's too late to collect your tears.

English is pretty ambiguous, even to a native like me.

Answer 10

Hello,

All the three forms are correct.

1) indicates a conditional future
2) indicates a conditional past
3) indicates a conditional pluperfect past

All make sense.

Michael