Future unreal conditional or second condition with continuous form

Question

I've learned that second condition is used to talk about unreal or unlikely or hypothetical condition. But some kind of 2nd conditional sentence construction are confusing to me. They are:

1. If I were going to climb up mountain, I would be taking a walking stick with me.

(This sentence is created by myself by looking at Englishpage.com (mixed conditionals), the sentence that I looked at in this site was: If I were going to Fiji next week, I would be taking my scuba diving gear with me. I could write this sentence in question itself but don't understand its words)

(Can i say: if I were going to climb up mountain, I would take a walking stick ? Does it make sense? Why continuous form (would be+v4) has been used in the above above instead of would+v1 ?)

Again, in the same way, the following sentence is also followed by continuous form(would be+v4) in the main clause, why? The sentence is:

2. I am busy next week, If I had time, I would be coming to your party.
   (Englishpage.com, same page)

(Can we say: I'm busy next week, if I had time , I would come to your party ?)

Again, what is the difference between following sentences:

1.If I were going to Rome next week, I would be trying to find accomodation.

2. If I were going to go to Rome, I would be trying to find accomodation.

Answer 1

Yes, you can say this:

If I were going to climb a mountain, I would take a walking stick.

I'm busy next week; if I had time, I would come to your party.

This is more commonly used than the following:

If I were going to climb a mountain, I would be taking a walking stick.

I'm busy next week; if I had time, I would be coming to your party.

Both ways of speaking are perfectly valid. There are a couple of subtle differences. I would be taking a walking stick implies that the action of taking the stick is important and on the person's mind during the walk. For example, maybe the stick is heavy and takes some concentration to handle correctly. Or maybe the walk is very long and difficult, and so it is quite important to bring the stick.

Also, I would be taking a walking stick is a second conditional statement, and it subtly implies that the mountain climb might not happen at all. People who speak like this are usually making clear that the situation is hypothetical and not necessarily going to happen.

I would be taking a walking stick implies that the action is somehow continuous during the walk. Something about taking the walking stick makes it active over a period of time (during the climb). I think a better example might be something like this: If I were going to climb a mountain, I would put a sandwich in my backpack. Compare this to the following: If I were going to climb a mountain, I would be carrying a gigantic sack full of food.