Questions tagged [conditional-constructions]
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."
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"If…, he can /will be able to kill the dictator" What is the difference in meaning? [duplicate]
What’s the difference?
“He’s the bravest person I’ve ever seen.
If you give him a knife, he can kill the dictator.
If you give him a knife, he’ll be able to kill the dictator”
What’s the difference ...
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"I would say" VS "I would have said" (in the context of giving one's opinion about something) [duplicate]
On TV, a woman who has spent years to make herself look like a Barbie doll is telling about her story, how and why she has been doing it. It turns out that she actually had painful days years ago, ...
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"it would be" in reference to something that someone else did or does
I find conditionals quite difficult to understand in English. That's why sometimes, here or elsewhere, I quote conditional sentences written by native speakers and ask questions about them to ...
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Mix conditional sentences type 1 and 2
Context: This is a conversation between me and my American friend:
A: We had a great workshop yesterday. Will you join us for next Sunday
at 2pm?
Me: I will try
A: If you can help me understand the ...
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They would/will have been married forty years come this June
They would have been married forty years come this June.
'would have pp' means past,but 'come this June' implies future.
What's the meaning of the example sentence and what about 'will' insteand of '...
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Is this an example of first conditional?
Is this an example of first conditional?
Can we use your father's vacation house if he's not staying there?
If not so, can someone please explain about this example?
Thanks.
The question was in an ...
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If you said you ate on top of the tower, it seems as though [closed]
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/on-top-of-vs-on-the-top-of.2180289/
In post #3, in the above thread, they say:
If you said you ate on top of the tower, it seems as though you sat literally on ...
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What type of conditional clause is this?
https://www.scribbr.co.uk/verb/conditional-sentence/
If you think we are returning to those policies, then that is not going to happen.
Using the resource above, I cannot compare my example:
then that ...
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Conditional sentences and usages
If I were born in 1984 my name would have been thamilay.
If I were born in 1984 my name would be thamilay now.
Which sentence is wrong.
Correct me!
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Should it be "....could marry..." or "....could have married...? --- If you didn't like me when you met me, how the hell could you marry me?
Imagine a husband says to his wife -after years of marriage- that he didn't like her all along ever since when they first met. So, the wife gets shocked and wants to ask how he married her. So, the ...
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Would with if clause?
I would take this medicine if it would cure my illness .
I would take this medicine if it cured my illness.
I think both are correct but do they have the same meaning ? I think the most idiomatic is ...
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The difference between zero conditional and first conditional
Here I have an explanation on the difference between zero conditional and second conditional:
I can't grasp the difference between to examples above:
This one is given as the example of zero ...
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"you wouldn't want to invite someone that you knew wouldn't want to come."
If you were having a party, you wouldn't want to invite someone that you knew wouldn't want to come.
Is this sentence 'that you knew wouldn't want to come.' also hypothetical OR does it refer to the ...
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I would listen to your mother
Consider the following, please:
A: Exams are soon, so my mother didn't allow me to go to my friend's birthday party yesterday. But I didn't listen to her and went to the party. Was it wrong of me to ...
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CNN: "Had he lived, he would be 95 years old this year." | Why is it "....would be...." instead of "....would have been..."?
"Had he lived, Martin Luther King Jr. would be 95 years old this year." CNN-Martin's question remains unaswered
This sentence seems to start with Conditional Type 3 structure, but it does ...
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Are these sentences conditionals?
After going through all the conditionals (real and unreal and mixed unreal), I doubt these two types of sentences. Are they conditional sentences?
He would have been more careful about it if he knew ...
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Should with 2nd and 3rd conditionals
Here is a link which I came across on this site.
Should in conditional sentences
It prohibits the usage of 'should' with type 2 and type 3. There are multiple sources which concur with this rule and ...
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How to properly express conditional causal relationship
Is this correct and normal way to express causation relationship?:
{Something} would not be required, had {something_other} been done properly.
Or maybe this form is more natural?:
If {...
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Time frame in a second conditional clause
In type 1 conditional sentences, the time is the present or future and the situation is real in both clauses.
In type 3 conditionals, the time is the past in both clauses.
In Type 2 conditionals, the ...
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If he <did say> such a thing (indicative past or subjunctive past?)
If he did say (not said) such a thing, she would break up
with him.
Question: Is did say in the indicative past tense or in the subjunctive past tense?
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Usage of Will/Would with the conditional clause
Occasionally, we have the occurrence of will/would in the condition clauses. In the below examples, 'will' and 'would' are supposed to have the meaning of 'willing to" or 'want to.'
Example 1. If ...
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"would" after "if" - "If you would just tell me, it would be easier for the both of us"
"If you would just tell me, it would be easier for the both of us"
Why is there "would" after "if"? It has to be an exception because normally you can't do it.
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"Must have" in hypothetical situations
I am not a native English speaker.
Can we use "must have" when we want to express a regret about something in the past that did not happen?
For example:
If I had come earlier, I must have ...
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As if she wasn't/As if she weren't
In the phrase below:
No one pays her any attention. They don’t even look at her direction, as if she weren’t there.
Is 'weren't' correct or should I change it to 'wasn't'?
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Use of would with type 1 conditionals
This is regarding the use of 'would' inside type 1 conditional.
From: Britannica: How to Use "Could," "Would," and "Should"
Example 1: If we invite him, Adam would ...
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What tense to use when a subjunctive mood sentence has nested clauses
Consider the following sentence:
If I knew what the problem ___, I would be able to help you better.
Should the verb be "is" or "was"?
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Why use Type 3 structure for a present situation: "They would have had lots of training...." instead of "They have had lots of training."
This is from a BBC video, in which people in a spacecraft are shown when they are allowed to unbuckle to experience the zero gravity in a spacecraft. People in a spacecraft (see:00:24-00:30). The ...
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"X and Y" implies conditional
Sequential disasters can also reinforce each other. Heat, droughts and flooding are often connected: hot air picks up more moisture; dry out soil enough and water will run off it like concrete. (From ...
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Can the "for" starts a sentence and becomes the integral sentence?
There is a sentence in the the economist, but it seems not correct:
For there are worse things for a polity than to be led by a cheerful, pragmatic and dedicated leader.
"For" guides a ...
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If...were to, would/Present Simple Tense? [duplicate]
If her dream of being naked in front of Simon were to come true – and she knew, somehow, that it would – she needed to be the
sveltest version of herself that had ever existed. Fries wouldn't help
...
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Difference between "the number of people you would have thought" OR "the number of people you would think"?
This from the BBC website Lost wallet found 5 years on
It is about a story in which somebody lost his wallet 5 years ago after he watched a game in a rugby stadium, and it was found 5 years later. ...
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"I would follow you if that is what you wanted" Why is "would" used here? [duplicate]
God knows that I would follow you if that is what you wanted.
This is a quote from a song called "God knows" (from an anime, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya).
Why is "would" is ...
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Unreal vs Real situations
If you were not blind, you would have avoided the other car.
This is unreal. I want to know what is the "corresponding" real situation:
If you are not blind, you will have avoided the ...
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If you would not date yourself
A current trend on TikTok is captioned: "If you would not date yourself, you should lower your standards."
The sentence makes sense to me and seems grammatical. However, I keep telling ...
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usage of be versus being -
I have find this sentence:
I wouldn't have thought there's much chance of the package _______ here before Friday?
where "_______" has to be filled. My first try was "to be" but ...
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Confused about tenses in conditionals
I've been told that the following examples of conditional sentences are wrong because the tenses don't match the structure of any of the four types: zero, first, second, or third. I'm very confused ...
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it would have been possible
a. It would have been possible for him to steal the money.
Could that sentence mean
b. He could have stolen the money.
?
To me (a) means that if something else had or had not happened, then it would ...
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Would have rescued you vs would rescue you
A -- Jim has been abducted, we need to rescue him
B -- It's too risky, we I can't go.
A -- But he would have done the same for you.
I don't know how to conceptualise this construction.
So what I ...
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Unreal condition in the future [closed]
What are the most appropriate tenses to use in the parts marked in bold font in the sentence below?
The task you mentioned is important to me and on my to-do list. I would/will be surprised if I did/...
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If I knew where she <lived><lives> now, I'd go and see her
(1) If I knew where she lived now, I'd go and see her.
(2) If I knew where she lives now, I'd go and see her.
[Question] Which is correct?
I think that (1) is correct, but a Japanese teacher of ...
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Is it ok to use a zero conditional in this case?
Take this sentence structure:
When X happens, Z typically happens.
It is a zero conditional because it uses "when" and the present simple.
According to the rule, a zero conditional can ...
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How to change Conditional sentence of Present unreal into reported speech
How to change Conditional sentence of Present unreal into reported speech. I have an example :
“If the weather is fine, I will go on a picnic with my friends,” she said.
As I read the answer key, the ...
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What conditional?
In a community of Italian people learning English, a user asked:
I've found this sentence in a book, but I hardly understand the used tense: “He have kept that bottled up inside him all these years”
...
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Why "would have been"?
For without the principles of a good will, they may become extremely bad, and the coolness of a villain not only makes him far more dangerous, but also directly makes him more abominable in our eyes ...
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What does she mean by this sentence: "I wouldn't have been a person that would have been able to be awful about the partner."
This is from the ITV, Loose Women Programme see 6:20-6:30.
The ladies talking about abortions that they had in the past, and when discussing the issue, one of them says:
"Do I want to be tied to ...
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Regarding remote conditionals
Don't worry, the boys are fine. Anyway, I have told them to call me if they had any problems.
Do you think the use of the remote conditional construction, marked by "had", is correct? I'm ...
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Zero conditional sentence with "can"
The normal zero conditional sentence has this structure with either "if" or "when", and uses the present simple in both sides:
A happens if/when B happens.
My question is, can I ...
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Why is there a "would" in the if clause, instead of a simple past?: "Decision-making could be easy if you’d think about what’s right for you."
The following sentence is from a text about marriage when to walk away
"Besides the pain you get from the betrayal, knowing when to walk away after infidelity is a lot harder to face. However, ...
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would burst if you continue/continued to fill
Traditional grammar teaches that "would V" is paired with a superficial past tense in conditional sentences of type (b). But nothing is said about sentences like (a), where modal "would&...
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"would have had" vs "should have"
Are these two sentences grammatical and equivalent?
1 If I had not taken my phone there, I would have had to go back home, pick it up, and take it there.
2 If I had not taken my phone there, I ...
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