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Expression: would begin



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Is this grammatically correct? -- I am to read a book | Were or was?
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Expression: would begin #1 (permalink) Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:00 am   Expression: would begin
 

Hi,

A silly question again.

Quote:
Impressionable men in the squadron like Dobbs and Captain Flume were so deeply disturbed by Hungry Joe's shrieking nightmares that they would begin to have shrieking nightmares of their own,


Does this 'would' suggest 'they were going to begin' or 'were about to begin' so they didn't actually have shrieking nightmares of their own?

Thank you!

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would #2 (permalink) Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:36 am   would
 

Hi,

I would suggest - it was likely that they were going to have nightmares.

A
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Is this grammatically correct? -- I am to read a book | Were or was?
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