Correcting Conditional Sentences: A Guide to Tense Usage in 'If I Had Gone to Bed Early Last Night I Wouldn’t Feel Tired Today'

The sentence “If I had gone to bed early last night I won’t feel tired today” is indeed incorrect, as it involves a misalignment between past and present tenses. Understanding the nuances of conditional sentences is crucial for accurate expression in English. This article explores the correct ways to phrase this sentence and explains the principles behind tense usage in conditional statements.

The Mistake in the Original Sentence

The original sentence is:

“If I had gone to bed early last night I won’t feel tired today.”

There are two possible ways to correct this sentence, depending on the context:

1. Conditional Sentence for Past Events

“If I had gone to bed early last night I wouldn’t have felt so tired today.”

This sentence is used when the speaker is reflecting on a past event and its outcome. For example, if the speaker is at home, perhaps finished with work, and thinking about how their day has been affected by their choice to stay up late the previous night.

2. Present Perfect Conditional

“If I had gone to bed early last night I wouldn’t be feeling so tired today.”

This sentence is used when the speaker is expressing a current sentiment based on a hypothetical past action. For instance, the speaker might be waking up or in the middle of the day and feeling the consequences of not going to bed early the previous night.

Alternative Phrases and Their Usage

These phrases are alternative ways of expressing similar ideas:

“If I had gone to bed early last night I wouldn’t have felt tired today.”

This sentence aligns well with the idea of reflecting on a past decision and its result.

“If I had gone to bed early last night I wouldn’t be feeling so tired today.”

This phrasing expresses a current state resulting from a hypothetical past action.

“If I had gone to bed early last night I would have not been tired today.”

This is grammatically incorrect as it uses Future in the wrong context. “Wouldn’t have” is the correct form for past tense conditional.

“If I had gone to bed early last night I would not feel tired today.”

This is incorrect as it uses the present tense would not to express a condition about the past. The correct structure involves past perfect wouldn’t have.

“If I had gone to bed early last night i wouldn’t feel tired today.”

This is also incorrect as it omits the necessary past perfect tense wouldn’t have. “Wouldn’t feel” is in the wrong tense context.

Layman’s Description of Conditional Sentences

Let’s break down the sentence and understand its components:

If I had gone to bed early last night I wouldn’t feel tired today.

The second half of the sentence asserts that the speaker would not feel tired today. This makes sense if the speaker went to bed early the previous night. However, the conditional clause sets the context of a hypothetical situation that didn’t happen.
Let’s examine these two cases:

Case 1: Real Event

If I went to bed early last night. So I won’t feel tired today

In this case, the speaker is simply stating a real event without any conditionality. The sentence correctly uses future tense.

Case 2: Hypothetical Event

If I had gone to bed early last night which I didn’t I would not have felt tired I do feel tired because I went to bed late.

Here, the speaker is reflecting on what might have happened if a past action had taken place. Use of “had gone” makes it clear that the speaker is thinking about a past event and its hypothetical result. The present perfect tense “would not have felt” indicates what would have been the case in a hypothetical past scenario.

Generic usage of conditional sentences:

If I had done something I wouldn’t have had to feel/do something else.

This structure is used to express a situation where an action in the past would have avoided a consequence in the present or future.