How could I have known you'd have shown up/ Oh what is it with those dialogue writers?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi @Arinker, @Anglophile I was watching a ‘Dynasty’ episode just a minute ago. The scene was as follows: Sable, Alexis’s cousin goes to see a casino boss in Denver to watch Fritz Heath, Alexis’s company comptroler, through a one-way mirror in the office of the casino boss. Heath appears to be a very bad gambler. Suddenly, Dex, Alexis’s ex-spouse shows up and he thinks that Sable knew that he was going to be there too. Sable denies that she did and says:

  • How could I have known you’d have shown up, here?

Let’s say that she tells that story to Blake the next day, could the same words be used, like this:

  • How could I have known he’d have shown up there?

Or would you say: - How could I know you would show up here?/ How could I know he would show up there?

I think it’s pretty obvious that Alexis and Sable dislike each other, even though they’re first cousins.

What would you say?

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2

I’d combine parts of your two sentences:
“How could I have known that you’d show up here?”
“How could I have known that he’d show up here?”

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3

Thank you very much, Arinker. By way the wild boar is well and so am I. However, the incident happened more than twenty-five years ago. I was in my mid twenties. :grinning:

4

I think such instant and instinctive replies are possible in a real spoken context.

However, grammatically, the following would be better:

1. How could I have known you’d show up here?
2. How could I have known he’d show up here?

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5

Thank you Anglophile!

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