Is it grammatically correct to report a rumour using the conditional ('would be', 'would have') to express the simple present ('is', 'has')?
Supposing that the story is not a confirmed fact regarding a royal family's new carriage:
According to press report, the royal family has a new carriage.
To avoid possible accusations of getting the facts wrong, could we reword the sentence above as follows?
According to press report, the royal family would have a new
carriage.
Would that be grammatically correct?
Answer
You need to analyse "conditionals" in three different moods.
Optative: Expressing a wish, where the fulfillment is possible.
The optative is a polite form of speech.Speculative: Expressing a hypothetical situation implying that the fulfillment is possible.
Subjunctive impossibility: Expressing a hypothetical situation where the fulfillment is impossible.
These conditionals are often confused by the non-native speaker with the past and past perfect tenses.
Let us look at various examples by comparing with the assertive/non-conditional statement.
Present Assertive (of a future action):
I will have a beer. I will drink beer, when you place it on the table.
Present Optative (using the past tense):
I would like to have a beer. I would drink beer if you placed it on the table.
Infinite Assertive:
She drinks beer. She drinks beer that you place on the table.
Infinite Speculative:
She might have beer. She might drink beer that you placed on the table.
Past Assertive:
She had a beer. She drank the beer, after he placed it on the table
Past Speculative (using the past perfect):
She could have had a beer. She would certainly have drunk it, if he had placed it on the table.
Infinite Assertive:
Stars are little twinkling diamonds in the sky. I wonder how they twinkle.
Infinite Subjunctive/impossibility:
If stars were little twinkling diamonds in the sky, I would wonder how they twinkled.
Past Subjunctive/impossibility:
If stars had been little twinkling diamonds in the sky, I would have wondered how they would have twinkled.
Past Speculative:
Stars could have been little twinkling diamonds in the sky. Our ancestors might have wondered how they had twinkled.
To answer your question: With the above illustrations, you should see that there are subtle differences between the various moods and the difference between "might", "could" and "would".
The press often masquerades speculation as asserted facts. By saying the following, the writer is asserting it as a fact.
According to press report, the royal family has a new baby.
To honestly express a speculation, you would write
According to press report, the royal family might have a new baby.
To express the same speculation in more respectful terms
According to press report, the royal family could be having a new baby
Do not confuse with the optative where the royals are deciding whether to have a new carriage, but have not decided to have one.
According to press report, the royal family would have a new carriage.
Do not confuse with the past perfect retrospective
According to press report, the royal family would have had a new carriage.
Do not confuse with the permissive optative, where the royals are given the permission to have a new carriage.
According to press report, the royal family could have a new carriage.
Difference between "have/had" and "have/had had"
People are often confused when to use "have had". It is actually the confusion in the differing use of of have. The application of "have" in your sentence reveals that confusion. Therefore, it would not express your intention accurately.
According to press report, the royal family would have a new carriage.
"Have" here is not the auxiliary tense verb "have". In your sentence "have" is replaceable by "get".
According to press report, the royal family would get a new carriage.
The following illustrates the meaning of the second "have", where the first "have" is the usual auxiliary tense verb:
I had had breakfast = I had eaten breakfast.
I had had a baby = I had given birth to a baby.
I had had brandy = I had drunk brandy.
We had had wars = we had fought wars.
In conclusion
Therefore, my advice is,
According to press report, the royal family could have had/acquired a new carriage.
To speculate "more assertively", you may write,
According to press report, the royal family should have acquired a new carriage.
You need not use the subjunctive form to express a speculative. The following form would be much better.
According to press report, the royal family may have acquired a new carriage.
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