Is this sentence gramatically correct?:
Yesterday I got very valuable information which, had I known much earlier, I would not be here now.
2007-11-03 19:48:16 · 16 answers · asked by Tanaka 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
No, it's not grammatically correct. First, you don't "know" information, you "have" it ("got" is also acceptable). Second, the "which" doesn't belong with anything that comes after it. And usually we don't get just "information" but either "some" or "a piece of" information.
Does this mean what you want to say:
Yesterday, I got a very valuable piece of information; had I had it much earlier, I would not be here now.
2007-11-03 21:50:42 · answer #1 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yesterday, I got very valuable information which, had I known much earlier, would have caused me not to be here now.
2007-11-04 01:55:56 · answer #2 · answered by Mimi W 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Although I have to agree with some of the posters here that this is a bit of a silly way to express such a thought, it is actually gramatically correct.
If you were taking a class to learn english and this was something for you to translate that wanted to push you to the limits, you would get an "A" because, technically, it's entirely correct. Most people that speak english wouldn't say such a thing though because it's an over-complicated way to express what you really mean.
In other words, it's a poorly constructed sentence but you have it correct gramatically.
2007-11-04 02:36:59 · answer #3 · answered by litehaus22 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, but it could be structured better; allow me:
Yesterday, I came by a very valuable piece of information, which had I known earlier, I would not be here now.
But aside from all this, what bothers me most is the logic of the question, and your use of tense.
Had you posted the question prior to coming by this "valuable " piece of information, your question would make sense. But the tense you have employed, makes your sentence nonsensical.
Wotan
2007-11-04 02:27:05 · answer #4 · answered by Alberich 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. it doesn't make sense. an easier way of saying it would be that yesterday I received some pretty valuable info, and I wouldn't be in this sitution if I'd known it way earlier.
Or, you could keep the formality, and instead say:
Yesterday I received some information which was very valuable. Had I received it earlier, my current situation would be quite/very different.
2007-11-04 02:36:31 · answer #5 · answered by C J 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, this sentence is not gramatically correct.
Yesterday, I received the valuable information. Had I known about it beforehand, I would not be here now.
2007-11-04 01:54:18 · answer #6 · answered by SweetBrunette 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yesterday I got A very valuable information. ( full stop) Had I known it before I would not be here now.
The latter sentence is a mixed type of conditional clauses. It can be said like this: If I had known it before I would not be here now.
The first part of it is the 3rd level of '' if '' conditional clauses, always refers to the past, the second part , main clause , refers to now or future , it refers to the 2nd conditional main clause.
2007-11-04 07:53:33 · answer #7 · answered by Alina M 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i think it's: Yesterday I got a very valuable information which, I had known much earlier, I would not be here right now.
2007-11-04 01:52:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
it sounds kind of funny when you say it :S
yesterday, i got very valuable information, which, had I known much earlier, would result in me not being here right now.
2007-11-04 01:51:41 · answer #9 · answered by .FunkyFresh. 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Nope. If you take the interruption out, you get "Yesterday I got very valuable information which I would not be here now."
I'm not sure how to fix it though without background information.
2007-11-04 01:51:32 · answer #10 · answered by Kelly 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋