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Under sentence is on my textbook.

If I were going to Fiji next week, I would be taking my scuba diving gear with me.

= I am not going to Fiji and I am not going to take my scuba gear with me.

And I just saw this sentence googling.

If I were going to have a child, I would get a copy of this book first.

  1. I'd like to know if this sentence means 'I am not going to have a baby'. I think 2nd sentence is just about imaginary situation, but compared to 1st sentence, 2nd sentence could mean 'I am not going to have a baby'. What is the right meaning?

  2. What if I use ' if i am going to have a child, I will get a copy of this book first'? which one is right or more common?

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  • I am not going to go to Fiji is not natural! I'd say 'I am not going to Fiji'
    – Maulik V
    Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 10:56
  • @MaulikV Thanks for your concern, I just modified.
    – jihoon
    Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 10:59
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    @Maulik: I am not going to go is perfectly fine and idiomatic.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 11:06
  • @DanBron while I'm not going to go... sounds okay, adding other words I'm not going to go to Fiji tickles me! :(
    – Maulik V
    Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 11:54
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    We use these kinds of conditionals when we think hypothetically. When we are thinking about impossible things, or things that we know will not happen, we have to think hypothetically. This does NOT mean that when we think hypothetically, we think something won't happen!! (Just like the fact that I breathe when I sleep does not mean I sleep when I breathe!)
    – Araucaria - Not here any more.
    Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 12:17

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In the first sentence you specify a point in time:

If I were going to Fiji next week

I know that you are not going to go because then you would have said "when I go to Fiji next week..."

But in the second sentence you don't specify a particular time:

If I were going to have a child

So you're talking about a hypothetical future. You're not sure if you'll have a child, but if you do then you would buy this book.

If you said:

If I were going to have a child next week, I would get a copy of this book first.

Then the same logic you applied to the first sentence can be applied to this one.

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