LEARN THE CONDITIONAL VERB FORMSConditional sentences follow specific patterns of verb forms depending on their meaning. The following table presents these forms.
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| LEARN THE CONDITIONAL VERB FORMS Conditional sentences follow specific patterns of verb forms depending on their meaning. The following table presents these forms. |
| TYPE OF CONDITION WITH EXAMPLE | VERB IN CONDITIONAL CLAUSE | VERB IN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE | |
| 1. | Factual: If the stock market falls, investors lose money. If the value of bonds rises, investors earn money. If I earned money as a child, I saved 75% of it. | simple present simple past | simple present simple past |
| 2. | Future possibility/prediction: If you invest in the stock market, you can make a lot of money. However, you might also lose money if the market goes down. | simple present | will can should + base form might could |
| 3. | Speculation about the present or future: If I were a millionaire, I would diversify my investment portfolio. If investors saved more, they could be millionaires by the time they retire. | simple past (Use were for past form of be.) | would could + base form should might |
| 4. | Speculation about the past: If corporations had not overstated their net worth in the 1990s, the stock market would not have fallen so drastically. If Enron executives had not been so greedy, many employees would not have lost their retirement benefits. | past perfect (had / had not + past participle) | would have + PP might have + PP could have + PP |
REAL CONDITIONS:
Conditional sentences like TYPE 1 and TYPE 2 in the table above are often classified as real conditions because they lead to facts or to possibilities or predictions that can actually be realized. Note that the verb form in any subordinate clause in a present or future time frame is the present tense. |
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• If students average 90% or above in any course, they get an A. [factual statement] • If Hua completes her course work this semester, she will graduate. [real possibility] |
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Past facts are often expressed with a time clause. Keep the verb tense consistent in both clauses. • If I made an effort, I always got an A. [When I made an effort, ...] • If I worked on weekends, I did all of my homework on Friday and Sunday nights. [When I worked on weekends, ...] |
| UNREAL CONDITIONS:
Conditional sentences like TYPE 3 and TYPE 4 in the table above are often classified as unreal conditions because the statement in the conditional clause is contrary-to-fact or hypothetical. Type 3: The verb form to express speculations about the present or future is the past form to signal that the situation in the if-clause is not real but could happen if the opposite were true. These sentences are understood as follows: | • If Bobby saved his money, he could buy an Ipod. [Bobby doesn't save his money, so he can't buy an Ipod.] |
| • If Jack spent less on cigarettes, he could afford to eat out. [Jack spends a lot on cigarettes, so he can't afford to eat out.] |
| • If Raul didn't put his money into his fancy car, he could afford tuition. [Raul puts his money into his fancy car, so he can't afford tuition.] |
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Type 4: To express speculation about the past, use the past perfect form in the conditional clause and the perfect modal form in the main clause. The sentence is hypothetical in meaning as the information in the if-clause is not real (contrary-to-fact). These sentences are understood as follows: |
| • If the president had resolved the conflict in Iraq, more Republicans might have retained their seats in the House and Senate. [The president did not resolve the conflict, and many Republicans did not retain their seatswere not re-elected.] |
| • If the voters hadn't been so angry, they might have re-elected more Republicans. [The voters were angry, so they didn't re-elect many Republicans.] |
| More examples: The following statements taken from the New York Times show that the dependent clause and the main clause can refer to different time frames. |
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• "If Paul were alive, he would have been deeply encouraged that a trial like this--that went so wrong--could be fixed." - widow of Paul Klebnikov, an American journalist murdered in Russia The if-clause with were expresses the unreal present; would have been encouraged expresses speculation about what her husband's reaction would have been (in past time) after the Russian Supreme Court overturned the acquittal of the men accused of killing her husband. (C)ould be fixed implies a realized possibility. [The Russian Supreme Court was able to overturn the unjust verdict.] |
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• "If the president had replaced Rumsfeld two weeks ago, the Republicans would still control the Senate and they would probably have 10 more House members." - Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House commenting on the election of 11/07/06 [The if-clause expresses the unreal past; the president didn't replace Rumsfeld before the election. The main clause expresses speculation about the present, so the past tense is used rather than the perfect modal.] |
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• "If we had arrested these people in 2004, we would have had to move M1 tanks to Sadr City to suppress an uprising over their arrests." - an American military official commenting on the change in Shite reaction to arrests of militia in Sadr City [The if-clause expresses an unreal past condition (They didn't arrest these people); the main clause expresses speculation about the past.] |