Context: I want to describe my thought in the past about what would happen The sentence: I thought if I bought her flowers, she would be happy. Is this sentence correct? I am confused because, if I don't use 'I thought', i.e. if I bought her flowers, she would be happy, that will mean I am talking about something that is impossible or unlikely to happen in the future.
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Please capitalize the first person singular pronoun, this is ELU.– KrisCommented Apr 23, 2018 at 9:18
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Any advice with regards to my actual question though?– CuriousMCommented Apr 24, 2018 at 1:34
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Wrong! You'll never make her happy!– Hot LicksCommented Apr 24, 2018 at 2:01
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1 Answer
As for terminology, it's a conditional construction because you have a dependent clause starting with if. As for the meaning of the dependent clause, you are using the modal preterite form of the verb buy, and the past preterite form of think. Preterite form can be used to express either modality (in this case remoteness) or past time.
The reason you are getting the difference in meanings is that in I thought if I bought her flowers..., you are reporting on a past situation from the present vantage point. If it seemed like a remote possibility in the past that you would buy her flowers, it's only relevant to talk about in the present because that possibility continues to be relevant, perhaps because the flowers were indeed bought. In the second version, there is no "hindsight" that filters the meaning. It is just a possibility, and we don't have context to judge how likely.