The conditional clause
in English
clauses
with "if" or "unless"
There are three
types of conditional statement in English:
- The open conditional statement.
- The hypothetical conditional
statement.
- The unfulfilled hypothetical
statement.
Part
4:
- Omission of "if".
The conditional
clause can either
go before
the main clause, or after
it.
Type 1. The open conditional
statement :
This
usually refers to a future event which is conditional on another future
event.
The verb of the main
clause is in the future tense with "will"
(or
sometimes another modal).
The verb of the conditional
clause is in
the simple present tense.
If you eat too much, you'll
get fat.
You'll get fat if you eat too much.
If everyone works fast, we'll finish in
time.
We won't finish in time unless everyone
works fast.
If I go to London, I can visit the
British Museum.
If you visit Scotland, you should visit
Edinburgh Castle.
Unless the directors can increase
sales, we'll have to close this shop.
Occasionally,
the open conditional statement describes one potential state of reality or
circumstance which is dependent on another. In this case, both verbs
are in the present
tense.
If I sleep well at night, I
feel much happier next morning.
If the temperature falls below zero, it
freezes.
If it rains, everyone gets wet.
In an open conditional statement, if is sometimes replaced by when: but there is a difference. Using "if" implies that the condition really is open and may not be fulfilled, using "when" implies that the condition will be fulfilled, that the event will really take place.
Type 2. The open hypothetical conditional
statement:
This refers to a possible future situation
which depends on on another possible future situation. The verb of the main
clause uses the present conditional tense (would + infinitive,
or could
+infinitive);
The verb of the conditional
clause normally uses the present
subjunctive or preterite (these two tenses are identical except with to be).
Occasionally, the conditional aspect of the statement can be emphasised
by using the form were
+ to + infinitive.
1A If
you ate too much, you'd
(you would) get fat.
1B You'd get fat if you ate
too much.
2A If everyone
worked faster, we would /
could finish in time.
2B We wouldn't finish in time
unless
everyone worked faster.
2C If everyone were to work
faster, we would/could finish in time.
3 If I went to
London, I would / could
visit the British Museum.
4. If you visited Scotland,
you could
visit Edinburgh Castle.
5 Unless the
directors could increase
sales, we'd have to close this shop.
Not also this common expression (which uses the open hypothetical form,
though it is clearly quite impossible!)
6.
If I were you, I'd ..........
As in: If
I were you, I'd go a bit slower / If I were you,
I'd put that gun down !!
This form is also used in cases of reported
speech.
My professor told me I'd do much better if I
worked harder.
The magistrate informed him that he'd go to prison
unless he stopped stealing.
The newspaper reported that unless the
directors could increase sales, they'd have to close the shop.
Type 3. The unfulfilled hypothesis
This refers to
a situation which an event might
have taken place, but did not, because
a condition was not
fulfilled.
The verb of the main
clause
goes in the past conditional (would
have + past participle).
The
verb of the conditional
clause goes in the past perfect (had
+ past
participle).
Examples:
If you had eaten too much,
you'd (you would) have got fat.
You'd have got fat if you'd eaten too
much.
If everyone had worked fast, we'd have
finishd in time (but we didn't).
We wouldn't have finished in time
unless everyone had worked fast (but we did).
If I had gone to London, I could have
visited the British Museum (but I didn't)
If you had visited Scotland, you could
have visited Edinburgh Castle (but you didn't).
Unless we'd been very confident of
success, we wouldn't have even tried.
(But we were confident, we did try, and we succeeded)
Note: using "
unless"
"Unless" means the same as "if ...
not", and has a negative value. It is frequently (but not only) used in
conditional statements where the verb of the main clause is
also in the negative.
You wouldn't have fallen over unless there'd been a banana
skin on the ground.
= You wouldn't
have fallen over if there hadn't been a banana skin on the ground.
4
Omission of "if", with inversion.
Sometimes, hypothetical
conditional statements or unfulfilled hypothetical
statements can be expressed omitting
the word if.
When this happens the subject
follows
the auxiliary
verb in the conditional
clause
Examples:
Were
the virus
to reappear, hospitals would now be ready for it. (open hypothesis)
= If the virus reappeared, hospitals would now be ready for
it.
or If the virus were to reappear, hospitals would now be
ready for it.
Had
I
known, I'd never have gone there (unfulfilled hypothesis;
implying "I did go there".)
= If I had known, I'd never
have gone there.
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