: Re: What's a shorter way of saying, "If you had asked me, I would have said, 'I suppose'"? I have this sentence: Rebecca lived in the building and was one of my wife's closest friends.

@Heady158

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With "I supposed", I'm trying to convey that if you had asked the
narrator, at the time the story takes place, whether Rebecca was one
of his closest friends, he would have said, "I suppose." But the way
I've written it makes it sound as though this was something he was
actively thinking about at the time the narration takes place.

I'm not sure I agree. The narrator is in the present, discussing events that took place in the past.

If the narrator said:

Rebecca lived in the building and was one of my wife's closest
friends. One of mine too, I suppose.

That would be him actively thinking about it now, at the time the narration takes place.

But, the fact that you've used the past tense of the verb, shows the reader that you mean, the narrator supposed at the time that they were friends.

I like it as it is. It creates an element of intrigue. It makes me think that the narrator thought they were friends back then, but this very exciting narrative is about to explain what changed his mind.

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