For questions about constructions which associate a hypothetical or imagined 'condition' with a 'consequence' which is inferred to be true if the 'condition' is true OR predicted to occur if the 'condition' occurs. "If John arrives tonight we will have a party."
Questions tagged [conditional-constructions]
1051 questions
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Conditional in the past -- "If Vietnam *would* fall..."
President Eisenhower had a strategic vision, the Domino Theory.
If Vietnam would fall, other countries in Southeast Asia would fall too.
A lecturer (native speaker) said it on a lesson. Using would confuses me. For me it should be at least "If…
mosceo
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What structure is used in "Would Aragorn had he had the ring been"?
Despite leaving Frodo and Sam to finish what the Fellowship started, Would Aragorn had he had the ring been able to control it without falling to Sauron's will and becoming his servant, was there a chance Aragorn could have been strong enough as a…
Our
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It would be great if you expanded your question
Imagine there's a very short question at this site, and I'm uncertain what the poster intends to ask.
Should I write
It would've been great if you'd expanded your question. (matrix clause: Past Perfective modal, conditional clause: Past…
CowperKettle
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"I _________ with you, but I had to study"
"I _________ with you, but I had to study"
would go
might go
would have gone
could go
I thought 1 is correct but the book says it is not correct.
Mrt
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CNN, conditionals in news sentences don't conform to any conditional types at all. What are they?
Today, I came across the following two sentences on CNN's website, which immediately attracted my attention as they are totally clash with what english teachers teach.
".....I feel like if we didn't get justice then those girls won't get justice…
Yunus
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What does "be she" mean?
Lo was enraged by all this - called me a lousy crook and worse - and I
would probably have lost my temper had I not soon discovered, to my
sweetest relief, that what really angered her was my depriving her not
of a specific satisfaction but…
Listenever
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If only, with would in two clauses (if only, would + infinitive, would + infinitive )
In Swan's Practical English Usage section 265 on (if only) item (b) would + infinitive (without to) to talk about the future, he gives the following example:
If only it would stop raining, we could go out
I was wondering if we could use (would) in…
learner
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6
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If : second conditional or third conditional
PEU. 256 and 426 says that
In most subordinate clauses, we use past tenses to express 'unreal' or conditional ideas:
If you asked me nicely, I might get you a drink.(second conditional)
But why not "If you had asked me nicely, I would have got…
Santi Santichaivekin
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"If you would look it up, you'll find it is a noun." Is this a grammatical conditional construction?
My friend wrote something, and there's a line in that something that reads:
If you would look it up, you'll find it is a noun.
She was talking about what some word means. Anyway, that's irrelevant here.
Is that line grammatically…
lekon chekon
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If I will show up, I'll let you know at the last minute. Correct?
Not sure whether I'll show up, but if I will, I'll probably let you know at the last minute.
Is it correct or should it be "if I do"? I'm on the fence here because showing up happens after letting them know that I will show up.
So the sequence…
Let
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votes
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Speaking about a real event in the past when it has not happened
Suppose my friend buys a lottery ticket on April 1st and finds out he has won a million dollars. On April 10th there will be a ceremony where he will get the money. But on April 2nd he loses the ticket. The same day we are both upset and I say to…
mosceo
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5
votes
2 answers
Conditional present or past
Which one is correct?
What would happen if they stop paying you?
What would happen if they stopped paying you?
In what context we can use this? after an event happened or before that.
Joann
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votes
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Second conditional in future
I would like to use the second conditional to express something is unlikely to happen.
The problem is this unlikely condition is about the future. Is it still ok to say:
If I won the lottery next week, I would buy a new car.
Vadi
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Understanding of a particular type of 'if... will'
The following is taken from PEU1 260.2:
'If it is true now that...'
We use will with if when we are saying ‘if it is true now that. . or ‘if we know now that..
If Ann won’t be here on Thursday, we'd better cancel the meeting.
If prices will…
Kinzle B
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I was thinking, if you are/were interested, you could
I was thinking, if you are / were interested, you could come over to dinner tomorrow.
Could someone please tell me if are and were are both natural here?
radiotower
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