Thank you, Linda--your remarks help!

Chuck Fisher
Professor, English
Aims Community College
5401 West 20th St.
Greeley, CO  80634
970-339-6520
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Linda DiDesidero 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 5:54 AM
Subject: Re: "Add" or "Added"?


Hi, Chuck. I don't know if we talked about your question here.  Here is my take on it: The two sentences could be synonymous, OR they could refer to different events (or to different sub-events of the same big event), though in actual usage, this distinction might not be apparent to many speakers.

1. "Would you mind if I added your name to the list?"
Yes, this -ed ending follows the rules. The question refers to a hypothetical completed action: the state of the name having been added to the list. Hence the -ed ending.  So the speaker is asking the hearer if she would mind a state or condition in which her name had been added to the list by the speaker.

It seems to me that the second example has a slightly different meaning in that it refers to the beginning of the speaker's action, but not its completion.  I don't know how aware speakers might be of these distinctions if, in fact, they exist.

2. "Would you mind if I add your name to the list?"

This question refers to a hypothetical act of the speaker taking a pen and beginning to write the name on the list.  She is asking if the hearer would mind this undertaking.  While sentence 1 refers to the completed state of the name being on the list, sentence 2 refers to the act of the speaker actually writing the name on the list.

You can imagine different situations in which these distinctions might be important. For example: 
Would you mind if add your name to the list, or do you want to do it?  
*Would you mind if I added your name to the list, or would you want to have done it?

Linda 
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" 
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ 

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/