he said that if i had been late vs he said that if i were late

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. "He said that if I had been late" is used when referring to a past unreal condition, while "He said that if I were late" is used when referring to a present unreal condition. The choice between the two depends on the tense of the verb in the main clause.

Last updated: March 23, 2024 • 968 views

he said that if i had been late

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when referring to a past unreal condition.

This phrase is used to talk about a past unreal condition. It is often used in reported speech to convey a hypothetical situation that did not happen.

Examples:

He said that if I had been late, he would have left without me.
She told me that if I had been late, I would have missed the train.

Show examples from the web [+]

Because you said if I was late again, you'd fire me.
Roger was called while with a patient and said if it is late round of golf you pay for beer.
He said that if I didn't tell the truth, he would.
He said that if I helped him find Ray he'd pay me a hundred grand.
And he said that if I thought for a second he was capable of such a thing, I should break it off right there.
He said that if i didn't look after you, He'd come back and haunt me.
He said that if I needed proof, I should check my front porch, And when I did, this was there.
Anyway, he said that if I helped him skim from the gang's account, he would protect me.
He said that if i had an abortion, I wasn't welcome in his congregation.
He said that if I sleep with you, my son would take the role.
He said that if I ever got into trouble that you were the person to call.
Then he said that if I came, he wouldn't.
He said that if I gave him the $14.75, he'd tell me where Dum-Dum was.
He said that if I ever told anyone of his behavior that it would ruin his career.
And after, he took me home, and he said that if I ever needed him, he'd be there for me.
But he said that if I quit, that he'd do everything he saved me from in prison.
But he said that if I quit, That he'd do everything he saved me from in prison.
He said that if I didn't get you on the phone, that he would leave...
And he said that if I just did what he said, he'd hook me up, too.
And then he said that if I didn't come with him, that he'd... that he'd kill Peter, too.

Alternatives:

he said that if I had arrived late
he said that if I had come late
he said that if I had shown up late
he said that if I had gotten there late
he said that if I had turned up late

he said that if i were late

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when referring to a present unreal condition.

This phrase is used to talk about a present unreal condition. It is often used in reported speech to convey a hypothetical situation that is not true in the present.

Examples:

He said that if I were late, he would be disappointed.
She told me that if I were late, I would miss the beginning of the movie.

Show examples from the web [+]

Because you said if I was late again, you'd fire me.
Roger was called while with a patient and said if it is late round of golf you pay for beer.
He said that if I didn't tell the truth, he would.
He said that if I helped him find Ray he'd pay me a hundred grand.
And he said that if I thought for a second he was capable of such a thing, I should break it off right there.
He said that if i didn't look after you, He'd come back and haunt me.
He said that if I needed proof, I should check my front porch, And when I did, this was there.
Anyway, he said that if I helped him skim from the gang's account, he would protect me.
He said that if i had an abortion, I wasn't welcome in his congregation.
He said that if I sleep with you, my son would take the role.
He said that if I ever got into trouble that you were the person to call.
Then he said that if I came, he wouldn't.
He said that if I gave him the $14.75, he'd tell me where Dum-Dum was.
He said that if I ever told anyone of his behavior that it would ruin his career.
And after, he took me home, and he said that if I ever needed him, he'd be there for me.
But he said that if I quit, that he'd do everything he saved me from in prison.
But he said that if I quit, That he'd do everything he saved me from in prison.
He said that if I didn't get you on the phone, that he would leave...
And he said that if I just did what he said, he'd hook me up, too.
And then he said that if I didn't come with him, that he'd... that he'd kill Peter, too.

Alternatives:

he said that if I was late
he said that if I am late
he said that if I get late
he said that if I arrive late
he said that if I come late

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

he said that if i had been late vs he said that if i were late