Is the below sentence correct?
I will confirm once I’m at the office.
I’m trying to tell someone that I will confirm later because I’m not at the office meanwhile. I could not digest “once” followed by “I’m”. That is why I was confused.
Learn English – Once I’m at the office
grammarsentence-construction
Related Solutions
ran for, ran after, and took all work in this sentence. In fact so does ran into but that is not what is being said here (that one is funny). The difference is their precise meaning. Note that the sentence is incorrect, it should read:
He __ the bus so he could reach the office in time.
1) He ran for the bus so he could reach the office in time.
This is the most reasonable answer and is appropriate for questions of this type. Using for implies there is a purpose to running, so you should follow it with something that justifies the action.
Examples: He ran for the presidential office. He ran for his own good.
2) He ran after the bus so he could reach the office in time.
He ran after shows an action taking place, use of after makes it sound like the man is chasing the bus, not merely getting it. This makes me think of the man actually trying to beat the bus to the bus stop.
Examples: He ran after the ball and into the street. He ran after the deer.
If there was a dog named Midnight, I would not say "He ran after Midnight." In this sentence, it sounds like midnight is a time. Instead, we would say "He ran for Midnight," just to avoid confusion.
3) He took the bus so he could reach the office in time.
This is plain and simple, and doesn't imply any need to run. The man simply took the bus.
Examples: He took the plane to get to Shanghai. He took the bag so that he would have books for class.
Your first example:
But it would be a surprise if the presidential election scheduled to take place in Venezuela is allowed to threaten the position of the country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
You are right to assume this is a type 3 conditional, according to the classifications in your book. If the Economist writers were following the strict rules that your book proposes, then the proper way to write this sentence would be:
But it would be a surprise if the presidential election scheduled to take place in Venezuela were allowed to threaten the position of the country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
I would have written it that way, although as your text pointed out, many English speakers would have written was. Still, I don't think most speakers would combine "would" with "is." I'd say it's a grammatical error. Either "will" with "is" (which would make it a type 2) or "would" with "were" (which would make it a type 3) is much more correct here.
Your second example:
Finding a viable way to mine outer space’s plentiful supplies of platinum, for example, would surely lead to a meteoric descent in the price of the metal.
This is another form of the type 3 conditional, although your book doesn't seem to cover it. The first part isn't worded using an "if" statement, but a gerund phrase like this, followed by "would" is another proper way to describe something imaginary. It could be reworded like this without changing the meaning, at all:
If we found a viable way to mine outer space’s plentiful supplies of platinum, for example, it would surely lead to a meteoric descent in the price of the metal.
Note that you can also use infinitive constructions this way: "To find a viable way . . . would surely lead . . . "
Best Answer
In this context, once is acting as a conjunction, which is used to connect two clauses to make a sentence. The two clauses are
The two clauses are grammatically correct, and once adds the meaing that the first clause will take place as soon as the second clause occurs.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, once can be an adverb or a conjunction. The adverbal usage is more common and has a different meaning: maybe that's what is making you uncomfortable about the sentence. You could replace once with the conjunction when, and the meaning would be almost the same, but without the sense of urgency.