----- Original Message -----
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
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