When do you use "would have"

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>When do you use the phrase "Would have" and why is it used wrong in this sentence?</p>

<p>You would have to choose her, if you are looking for the best athlete to represent the school. No error.</p>

2

<p>Wait...if the answer is "no error," then it isn't used wrong, right?</p>

3

<p>use your intuition</p>

4

<p>would is wishful thinking, so "are" has to be "were"</p>

5

<p>i remember reading somewhere that you should never used "would have" in an "if" clause.</p>

6

<p>"Would" is past tense. The rest of the sentence, if you are looking for the best athlete to represent the school, is present tense. Thus, you must use correct sequence of tenses and match it with "will have to."</p>

7

<p>You use "would have" in "if-type sentences." Remember, in an "if-type sentence," the words (would have, had) must be somewhere in there.</p>

<p>Ex: If I had bought Microsoft stocks when the company just formed, I would have become a millionaire by now.</p>

<p>Had he picked 26 as the mega number, he would have won the lottery.</p>

8

<p>"would have" is not past, it's conditional.</p>

9

<p>Lol. The only reason I understand this thread at all is because of learning Spanish.</p>

10

<p>"Would have" is not part of the same verb form in this sentence. "Have" goes with "to" in "have to": just a colloquial way of saying "to be forced or compelled."</p>

<p>With a conditional clause like this (it's called conditional II) you usually use past tense in the "if" clause. Correct is:</p>

<p>You would have to choose her if you <em>were</em> looking for the best athlete to represent the school. </p>

<p>[No comma if the main clause comes first, either.]</p>