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Bob: You can buy this car for twenty thousand pounds.

Fred: If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd have ever bought.

Please don't rephrase it, there must be a way of starting:

"If I bought that car, it would be"

You'll need Queenie's super-powers of English i reckon...

"most expensive car I'd have ever bought"

shouldn't that be:

"most expensive car I'd ever bought"

Hi Marvel - I didn't uite pick up what you're trying to achieve with the statements but....

Bob: You can buy this car for twenty thousand pounds.

As a statement this is fine.

If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd have ever bought.

This sound gramitically incorrect to me

I would say either of the following:

If I buy that car it will be the most expensive car that I've ever bought

or

If I'd have bought that car it would have been the most expensive car I'd ever bought

Marvell wrote:Fred: If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd have ever bought.

Take out the appostraphe, and it says "expensive car I had have ever bought"

so you need to choose...have or had!

Surely it'd be

"If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I would ever have bought"

Speaking as a professional editor, my take on it is:

If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd ever bought.

You could substitute "I've" for "I'd" and it wouldn't be wrong, but wouldn't be quite as good.

Adding "that" before the "I'd" isn't wrong, either, but makes the sentence clumsier without adding anything in meaning.

Is it not really "If I were to buy that car..."

If you're being posh. Otherwise:

If I bought that car, It would be the most expensive car I have ever bought.

If you were being posh then surely it would be:

If one acquired the Bentley, it would be the most expensive vehicle that my chauffeur had ever driven.

Robbie wrote:Speaking as a professional editor, my take on it is:

If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd ever bought.

You could substitute "I've" for "I'd" and it wouldn't be wrong, but wouldn't be quite as good.

Adding "that" before the "I'd" isn't wrong, either, but makes the sentence clumsier without adding anything in meaning.

I am also a professional editor, and I agree with Robbie. "I've" is fine, but "I'd" is better, in the context of this sentence.

Part-Timer wrote:

Robbie wrote:Speaking as a professional editor, my take on it is:

If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd ever bought.

You could substitute "I've" for "I'd" and it wouldn't be wrong, but wouldn't be quite as good.

Adding "that" before the "I'd" isn't wrong, either, but makes the sentence clumsier without adding anything in meaning.

I am also a professional editor, and I agree with Robbie. "I've" is fine, but "I'd" is better, in the context of this sentence.

I'm not a professional editor. But it definately is the way to go!

So, what would it be then?

"If I were to buy that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd ever bought."

isnt the correct answer " F**K me , HOW MUCH?"

Follow the wise and educated of the English language:

Ralph Wiggum wrote:Me fail English?? That's unpossible!

Blapsing_Beard wrote:

Marvell wrote:Fred: If I bought that car, it would be the most expensive car I'd have ever bought.

Take out the appostraphe, and it says "expensive car I had have ever bought"

Actually, it would be "I would have" as in "I'd have bought that book, but ..."

Yes, strictly it should be "If I'd bought that car..."

But he specifically said he didn't want the first part of the sentence changed.

Actually, they're different in meaning. "If I bought..." suggests he's still thinking about buying, as a possibility. "If I'd bought..." suggests the opportunity for buying is past, and he's looking back at a choice he might have made differently.