Before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they will be vs Before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they can be

Both phrases are correct, but they convey slightly different meanings. The first phrase 'before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they will be' implies a future tense, suggesting that the speaker is referring to a specific point in the future when the plants will be identified. The second phrase 'before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they can be' uses 'can' to express possibility or capability, indicating that the speaker is uncertain about the potential types of plants. Both can be used depending on the intended meaning.

Last updated: March 25, 2024 • 840 views

Before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they will be

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to express uncertainty about the future types of plants.

This phrase is used to convey that the speaker was unaware of the specific types of plants that would grow from the seeds before they germinated.

Show examples from the web [+]

Look, I did not know what had happened here.
Although, I admit, I did not know what to expect.
When I started with you all, I did not know what you were capable of.
Since we're being honest, I did not know what bunting was.
I just happened to hear the bell and I came unprepared and, to be honest, I did not know what was going on.
As I did not know what to do, I asked him for advice.
I did not know what housework was until my maid resigned.
I did not know what was wrong with me.
I did not know what prong three was.
In fact I did not know what African authenticity was.
I did not know what to say.
At the time, I did not know that Commissioner Bolkestein was going to appear next week before the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism to discuss this matter.
I did not know what prong three was.
You have to believe me. I did not know what Morgana intended.
I did not know what to do, where to go.
I remember returning home... ...and I did not know what to do.
Tony really wanted you here, and I did not know what to do...
I did not know what he meant until I met you.
I did not know what she was to you.
It was a blessing in my early youth that I did not know what was really going to happen.

Alternatives:

before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they would be

Before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they can be

This phrase is correct and can be used to express uncertainty about the potential types of plants that could grow from the seeds.

This phrase is suitable for indicating that the speaker was unsure about the range of possible plant types that could emerge from the seeds before germination.

Alternatives:

before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they might be

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

Before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they will be vs Before the seeds germinated, I did not know what kind of plants they can be