In the following sentence, are both parts of the clause correct for a present unreal sentence?
In this sentence, shouldn't it be this?
I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that the rule of thumb is to use similar moods and tenses in each part of the sentence.
1.) If she were alive today, she would have wanted you to become a doctor.
2.) If she were alive today, she would want you to become a doctor.
Both of these rearranged sentences start by using the past subjunctive (simple-past tense): "If she were alive today...." I would expect a similar use of the past subjunctive in the second half of the sentence to match the first part. The second sentence seems to do just that: "If she [were alive] today, she [would want] you to become a doctor."
Brian Garner's "The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation" says that the past subjunctive really refers to the present or future even though it uses the past tense. This seems to fit #2 because it seems to be making a statement about the present.
If the first part of the sentence were making a statement about the past, you would have used the past-perfect subjunctive: "If she had been alive in the 1900s, she would have wanted you to become a doctor." Because the first part of the sentence uses the past-perfect subjunctive (had been alive), the second has a matching past-perfect subjunctive (would have wanted).
"We're" is correct because it is used when the statement is hypothetical.
I first started noticing the "shtr" mispronunciation in the early Eighties. Since then, more and more people have adopted this silly peccadillo to the point where it's almost become the preferred pronunciation.
When I point it out to people, almost all say they don't hear it, and many seem to think I'm just imagining the whole thing.
Not five minutes ago on a TV commercial, the (professional) spokesperson pronounced "history" as "hishtry," which even breaks the "str" rule.
As a person who takes pride in correctly pronouncing words, it "frushtrates" me to hear people butcher the language.
What can be done? As Lizzie Borden's father said, don't axe me. All I can do is continue to point it out and hope others will do the same.