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(1) If I ate too much food now, I wouldn't be able to eat anything else when my pizza arrives in 30 minutes.

Is the arrives correct here?


(2) If I didn't sleep now, I would look terrible when I go to work tomorrow.

Is the go correct here?


(3) If I didn't wake up when my alarm clock goes off, I would be late for work.

Is the goes off correct here?


(4) If I didn't wake up when my alarm clock goes off, I would be scolded by my boss because she always tells us not to be late.

Is the goes off correct here?

Is the tells correct here?


So in cases of conditionals, do we just use tenses in adverb clauses normally depending on what we are trying to say, right?

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  • 1
    The verbs you are querying are all fine, but I would use eat and won't for No. 1 and don't and will for the others. Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 13:55
  • @KateBunting Thank you for your answer. Do you mean, if I use second conditional with verb tenses like the ones in the examples, they are correct, but you would recommend I use first conditional in the examples?
    – VinceL
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 17:42
  • 1
    It seems much more natural to me. If you're expecting a pizza delivery in half an hour, the decision whether or not to eat now is immediate, not a speculation about an imaginary situation! Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 17:56

1 Answer 1

1
  1. question - Yes, arrives is used correctly.

  2. question - Yes, go is used correctly.

  3. question - No, qoes off is not used correctly because the sentence indicates that it is in the past when you say "didn't". If you swapped the "didn't" with "don't", it would be correct.

  4. question - As for goes off, it's the same issue as in question 3, but tells is used correctly.

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  • If I want to use these conditionals as present unreal conditionals, will the tense use in the verbs in bold in my examples be correct?
    – VinceL
    Commented Nov 5, 2021 at 3:45
  • 1
    @vincentlin Yes that would work
    – Drupal guy
    Commented Nov 5, 2021 at 7:14

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