Hypothetically Speaking | WordReference Forums

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Hypothetically speaking

• Thread starter Thread starter deepuips
• Start date Start date Jun 3, 2016

D

deepuips

Senior Member

Hyderabad, India Hindi When making a hypothetical statement, do I have to use the past form of verbs or the present form in the main clause? For example, "Hypothetically speaking, if I finish my homework by dinner, I will be able to ~." "Hypothetically speaking, if I finished my homework by dinner, I would be able to ~." Are they both correct in different situations? Thanks for your time.

e2efour

Senior Member

England (aged 79) UK English You can use either tense. But what do you want to say? If you have an if-clause, your statement will automatically be hypothetical. In other words, the addition of Hypothetically speaking seems pointless unless you mean something special by saying it. D

deepuips

Senior Member

Hyderabad, India Hindi I am confused about "Hypothetically speaking, if I finish my homework by dinner, I will be able to", because on the one hand hypothetical mean in the realm of the impossible, whereas, using the present real condition in the if-clause means it may be possible. So in the same sentence there are two contradictory connotations, that are bothering me. So please help me. Thank you.

e2efour

Senior Member

England (aged 79) UK English I think it's an unfortunate term. If something is impossible, I would prefer unreal (e.g. If the sun did not rise tomorrow, we would have a problem). If you are just making an if statement, you could say Suppose/Let's suppose I finish my homework by dinnertime. I will/would then be able to ... If you want to make it less likely, you could say Suppose that by some chance I finish ... I would be able to ... For the impossible condition, Imagine that I could finish by dinnertime, I would be able to ... The only time I hear the word hypothetical is when someone (usually a politician) is being asked a question on the radio. They then come out with the fatuous statement That's a hypothetical question in order to avoid giving an answer. If you want to put forward a hypothesis, that is a different matter. But even then I don't think I would actually use the word hypothesis, but start a sentence with Let's assume/suppose that ... I am not saying the hypothetically speaking is wrong, but simply that I would prefer to say it in a different way (Let's suppose, for example, that you found yourself in the time of the dinosaurs. What would your reaction be?). Last edited: Jun 3, 2016

Dale Texas

Senior Member

El Paso, TX (raised PA, ex New Yorker) English USA I agree with all of e2e's posts on this. In some ways, I'd compare this with saying, " 'Futuristically' speaking, I will buy a car tomorrow" as though you thought the present tense of "I will" doesn't in and of itself immediately put you and your listeners into future mode...but it does. D

deepuips

Senior Member

Hyderabad, India Hindi But e2e sir and Dale I haven't still understood the usage. It is confusing me. Are they both correct? If yes, then what do they mean and when do I use them?

e2efour

Senior Member

England (aged 79) UK English It's not clear to me what you mean by the phrase Hypothetically speaking. The word hypothetical has more than one meaning and in hypothetical statements (if clauses) can mean unreal or imaginary. Both your conditional sentences are possible according to one meaning of hypothetical. If you are going to use a highfaluting or stilted phrase like hypothetically speaking, the situation you are talking about should at least be important and probably unlikely to happen. An important situation could be described with the words Imagine that you had absolute power. What is the first thing that you would do? You could then say If I had absolute power, I would ... (I leave this to your imagination. ) It is in this context that you might start with Hypothetically speaking. Although it would be more natural to say Imagine or Suppose I had absolute power. If I did, I would ... As I said in #2, you could use either form of the if sentences. There is no difference, in practice, between If I finish my homework I will ... and If I finished my homework I would ... You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

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