He would <be><have been> in a good mood, but

[JJXR]

Hello to all,

Thanks for reading my post.


Context:

John has a birthday today. Samantha has just insulted him, so he's in a bad mood. Bob doesn't know anything about it, so he expects John to be in a good mood. Bill knows why John is in a bad mood. After Bob sees John, the dialog below takes place between Bob and Bill.

Sample sentence:

Bob: "Today's John's birthday! Why is he in a bad mood?"

Bill: "He would <be><have been> in a good mood, but Samantha has just insulted him."

Question:

Are both options correct in this case?


Thanks a lot for any comments, corrections or suggestions!

Regards,
JJXR

 

[tunaafi]

As the insulting happened in the past, albeit a very recent pat the 'would have been' form is more natural. Either form is OK in 'He would be/have been in a good mood if Samantha hadn't insulted him'.

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for the explanation, tunaafi.

 

[Roxxxannne]

'He would be in a good mood' sounds better to me since Bob and Bill are talking about John's present state. Is this a BrE-AmE difference?

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for the response, Roxxxannne.

 

[se16teddy]

"He would be in a good mood" is confusing. You can't tell whether it is type 2 or type 3 conditional without studying the context closely; and even after studying the context you might still be in doubt. So it is OK grammar but awful style.

 

[DonnyB]

I'd use the conditional perfect "He would have been in a good mood" [had it not been for Samantha's insult].

She insulted him, and therefore the possibility of his being in a good mood is now in the past.

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for your responses, se16teddy and DonnyB.