Oddbean new post about login | logout Can you use "must" to replace the following cumbersome phrase? E.g. Can this sentence: "The IT company that is hired to run OPTN's computer systems _would have had to have_ worked on an organ transplant network in the past" be shortened to: "The IT company that is hired to run OPTN's computer systems _must have_ worked on an organ transplant network in the past" and still retain its meaning?
@5871b4b8 I would say no, depending on the original context. in some cases it could be equivalent, but your shortened form is slightly different. it implies that they had to have done X to do Y, while the other says if they were to have done Y then they would've had to have previously done X, without implying that they DID do X. its subtle, I admit, but different IMO