Situations/comparison

Situations/comparison
Message from shaaraf posted on 23-03-2013 at 16:05:32 (D | E | F)
Hello,

Could you help me please?
"If you had worked harder, you wouldn’t have failed the test."
Why can't we use "work hard" here?.
Is there any comparison?
Waiting for replies!
Thank you!

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Edited by lucile83 on 23-03-2013 16:18

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Re: Situations/comparison from willy, posted on 23-03-2013 at 17:02:30 (D | E)
Hello!

You may have worked hard and failed the test.
So, if you had worked harder than you did, you would have passed it.

There is sort of a comparison with the quality of the work you did first before taking the test.

"I know you've worked hard but you ought to work harder to succeed."

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Re: Situations/comparison from shaaraf, posted on 23-03-2013 at 18:35:14 (D | E)
You made it really easy for me.

Thank you very much

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Re: Situations/comparison from gerondif, posted on 23-03-2013 at 19:05:43 (D | E)
Hello,
it is a question of matching the tenses:
if you work hard (present),you will pass the test (future)
If you worked hard (subjunctive, you imagine a situation), you would pass the test (conditional)
If you had worked hard (past perfect), you would have passed the test (past conditional)

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