3 If + past tense can be followed by another past tense when we wish to
express automatic or habitual reactions in the past: If anyone interrupted him, he got angry.
whenever anyone interrupted him. 4
When if is used to mean ‘as’ or ‘since’, a variety of tense is possible in the main clause. If + past tensehere has a past meaning. The sentence is
not a true conditional. Tom: I knew she was short of money.
Ann: If you knew she was short of money, you should have lent her some Why did not you lend her some?
b. Variation of the if clause
Instead of if + simple past we can have: 1
If + past continuous We are going by air and I hate flying. If we were going by boat, I would
feel much happier. 2
If + past perfect If he had taken my advice, he would be a rich man now.
this is a mixture of type two and three.
48
3 Even though the time reference in the if clause is the present or future,
past verb forms are used in the if clause.
Correct :
If we had money, we would buy a car today. Incorrect
: If we have money, we would buy a car today.
Would can be used in the if clause only when the meaning is “be willing
to”. If you would take the time to study If you were willing to take the time to
study, you could be an excellent student. 4
The subjunctive were is used for all persons.
If I were rich, I would quit my job immediately. If she were rich, she would quit her job immediately.
If they were rich, they would quit their jobs immediately.
48
A.J. Thompson, A Practical English Grammar,.... p. 190.
5 The modals in the independent clause are in the form they take in indirect
speech. 6
Remember that with type two of conditional sentences, you are stating the opposite of present truths.
Present truth: I don’t have any money, so I can’t lend you any.
If I had some money, I could lend you some.
Present truth: I’m not concentrating, so this page is difficult to understand.
If I were concentrating, this page would not be difficult to understand.
7 If may be omitted in the if clause when it is followed by an auxiliary verb
such as should and were. Note that the auxiliary precedes the noun when if is omitted.
Should I see
him today, I’ll tell him to call you. If I should see him today,...
Were he home now, you could call him. If he were home now,....
49
2. The Function of Type Two of Conditional Sentences
This kind of conditional sentence describes a situation which does not exist or is unreal.
50
Type two of conditional sentences are sometimes called the’second’.’hypothetical’ or ‘unreal’ conditional. We actually use them to refer
to or speculate about something that is or that we perceive to be impossible or ‘contrary to fact’.
51
3. The Usages of Type Two of Conditional Sentences
As stated before, every type of conditional sentences has a specific form and usage. The writer will try to describe usage of type two of conditional sentences.
Which is basically used: a
When the supposition is contrary to known facts: If I were you, I’d plant some trees round the house.
49
Carroll Washington Pollock, Communicate What You Mean, New Jersey, Prentice Hall Inc, 1982, p. 229.
50
Marcella Frank, Modern English New Jersey: Prentice Hall: 1972, p. 33.
51
Martin Parrot, Grammar for English Language Teachers London: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 233
–234.
In fact I am not you. b
When we do not expect the action in the if clause to take place: If a burglar came into my room at night.
I’d throw something at him. In fact I do not expect a burglar to come in.
Some If clauses can have either of the above meanings, as the example below:
If he left his bicycle outside, someone would steal it. ‘If he left his bicycle’ could imply ‘but, he does not’ present meaning, as in
‘I’ above or ‘but, he does not intend to’ future meaning, as in two. After
all, the correct meaning is usually clear from the text. At one time ambiguity of this kind was avoided by using were + infinitive
instead of the past tense in type two: If a burglar were to come ...
If he were to leave ... Nowadays, this use of were is considered rather formal, but it is sometimes
found in written English.
52
c It can describe an improbable future event or situation. The condition is
unlikely to be fulfilled, because the future event is unlikely to happen: If the result of the test were positive, we would call you within two days.
d It can also describes a hypothetical current situation or event, i.e. one
which is contrary to know facts. Therefore, it is impossible to fulfill the condition:
If the police were confident of their case against Skykes, surely they wouldn’t hestitate to take him into Custody?
The police is not confident of their case. The choice between the first conditional and the explanation in ‘point c’ of
the second conditional above often depends on how possible the speakers believes in an event to be:
If Mike rings the travel agent tomorrow, he might get ccancellation.
The speaker thinks that it is likely that Mike will ring the travel agent.
52
A.J. Thompson, A Practical English Grammar, ....p. 188.
We use type two of conditional sentences to express a variety of functions: 1.
Giving Advice with were
If I were you, I would take her out to have a candle-light dinner.
2. Polite request
If you could deal with this matter. I’d be very grateful.
3. Desiresregrets
If we
didn’t have to work so hard, we could spend more time together.
We can use should + infinitive or were to + infinitive in the second conditional to emphasize that the condition is unlikely to happen, as the example below:
4.
If the printer should break down within the first year, we would repair it at our
expense. 5.
If you were to listen more carefully, you might understand a little more.
We can put waswere to before the subject in order to sound more formal, as the example below:
a
Were you to accept our offer, we could avoid the costs of a court case.
We can make this condition more formal by placing should before the subject:
b
Should the tickets fail to arrive before the departure date, we would
arrange to have duplicates waiting at the airport. The explanation of tense combination of present unreal will be described in
the table on the next page:
Table 2.13 The Tense Combination of Present unreal
53
Dependent Subordinate clause Independent Main Clause Simple Past would, could, might, should +
main verb Past Continuous could, had to + main verb
would Example:
If John studied, he would pass the test If John were studying, he might pass the test
If John could study, he could pass the test If John would study, he could pass the test
Note: Neither will nor would can be used in the if clause when they are used with
a future meaning.
e The Difficulties in using Type Two of Conditional Sentences
The conditional sentence s are provided by the students’ textbooks and
reference grammars with information which is difficult to grasp by the students.
54
In line with preceeding sentence, Marianne C. Murcia wrote that “the second conditional sentences or imaginative conditional sentences are perhaps the most
problematic of three main types”.
55
53
Caroll Washington Pollock, Communicate What You Mean, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1982, p. 213.
54
Marianne C. Murcia, The Grammar Book,... p. 545.
55
Marianne C. Murcia, The Grammar Book,... p. 551.
