Transcript if clause

If Clauses
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Type 0
• Used for facts, generalisations and timeless
statements.
• Normally present tense in the main clause
and the if clause:
If you melt ice, you get water.
If you want to succeed, you must work hard.
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Type 1
• Used for realistic situations in which the
speaker thinks that it is possible that the
conditions can be fulfilled:
If the baby wakes him up, he will be very
unhappy.
If she hasn’t had any breakfast before she
comes, she’ll get very hungry.
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• Note that we normally stick to the use of the present
in the if clause and the will-future in the main clause.
• It is possible to use other tenses though.
Compare:
If she doesn’t have breakfast before she comes, she’ll
be hungry.
If she hasn’t had breakfast before she comes, she’ll be
very hungry.
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Type 2
• Used for unreal or hypothetical situations
where the speaker doesn’t think the
conditions will be fulfilled.
• We use the past form in the if clause, and
would + verb in the main clause:
If he was more motivated, he would have better
chances of promotion.
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Type 3
• Used for situations where the conditions were
not fulfilled in the past. It is therefore
impossible for the situation to change.
If I had known he was a gambler, I wouldn’t have
married him.
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Mixed Conditionals
• Note that we can combine conditionals depending
on whether the conditions are still unfulfilled up until
the moment of speaking.
Compare:
If you had brought the umbrella (you didn’t bring it),
we wouldn’t be wet now.
If you had brought the umbrella, we wouldn’t have got
wet. (You didn’t bring it and we got wet)
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• Note that we often use should to talk about
future situations. In this construction we can
use type 1 and type 2 conditionals:
If you should forget the PIN number, we will
provide you with another.
If such problems should occur, we would tackle
them directly.
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Exceptions
• It is possible to use “will” and “would” in the if
clause, but only in exceptions:
If you would be so kind as to consider me, I
would be grateful. (polite form)
If you won’t do the washing up, then I won’t do
the ironing! (willingness & refusal)
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• The Imperative can be used instead of the
“will” clause in the First Conditional
Get her toy if you want her to stop crying.
If you don’t like the music, turn it off.
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•
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Compare the following:
If you pull a cat’s tail, it screams.
If you pull my cat’s tail, she will scream.
If you pulled my cat’s tail, she would scream.
If you had pulled my cat’s tail, she would have
screamed.
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Complete the Following
• If we _________(come) late, we _________
(apologize).
• I _________ (have) a drink, if you _________
(offer) me one.
• If I _________ (win) the lottery, I _________
(buy) a car.
• If you _________ (touch) snow, it _________
(melt)
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Related Structures
Wish Sentences / If only
• Used to express regret that something is not the case
• Tenses used are generally those of the 2nd conditional
To talk about the present:
I wish I knew the telephone number.
(I wish + simple past)
To talk about the future:
I wish I wasn’t writing the Linguistics Mid Term tonight.
(simple past – didn’t have to past progressive – wasn’t
writing)
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To talk about the past:
I wish I had listened more in class.
(past perfect)
To talk about hypothetical situations:
I wish I was rich.
I wish they would call me back.
If only:
• Can replace I wish, making the sentence more
emphatic.
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• Note that wish + would can only be used with
dynamic verbs and if the subjects of the verbs
are different
I wish I could speak to them (NOT I wish I
would…)
I wish he would speak to them.
I wish he liked dogs. (Not I wish he would like
dogs)
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It’s (high) time, I’d rather, I’d
prefer
• Can be followed by a past tense of an infinitive
• It’s (high) time
Past:
It’s high time we drank up and left.
(more emphatic, something overdue)
Infinitive :
It’s time to drink up now, ladies and gents.
It’s time for Sally to decide what she wants to do.
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I’d rather
Past:
I’d rather he did it for me.
I’d rather my mom had told me earlier.
Infinitive:
I’d rather do it myself (subject same)
*Only possible if the subject is the same.
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I’d prefer
Past:
I’d prefer it if you stayed.
I’d have preferred it if I could have eaten more
pizza.
Infinitive:
I’d prefer to watch television.
I’d prefer for him to swim tomorrow.
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