Transcript Conditional Sentences

Factual Conditionals
Ron Cowan, Ph.D.
PP slides: Yuri Vedrashko
November 2006
• If the gas is heated, it expends.
• If she plays bridge with him, they always lose
big.
• If she wants to go skiing, that’s what they do.
• If Jim doesn’t find his passport, he may be
deported.
• If he’s vacationing in Florida now, he’s
probably getting a great tan.
• It must be Bill if that call is for me.
• If he has an IQ of 182, then I’m another
Einstein!
• If anyone has a clue here, it must be Jane.
General types
Factual conditionals express a fact and
can be
Timeless
Time-bound
Factual conditionals
Can be further broken down into
A Timeless
•
•
Generic
Habitual
B Time-bound
•
•
Implicit inference
Explicit inference
Factual conditionals
A Timeless
•
Generic
Factual / timeless / generic
• If the gas is heated, it expends.
• If the temperature is below “0”, the water
freezes.
• If the water is heated, it evaporates.
Meaning: a fact that holds for all time, such as a
scientific truth
Form: The main verb is in Present tense in both
clauses
Factual conditionals
A Timeless
•
•
Generic
Habitual
Factual / timeless / habitual
• If she plays bridge with him, they always lose big.
• If she wanted to go skiing, that’s what they did.
• Whenever (if) he takes her on a trip, they always get
into a fight over where to stay.
Meaning: past or present relationships that are usually but not
always true.
Form: The main verb is in Present or Past tense in both
clauses. It also occurs with <whenever>.
Factual conditionals
A Timeless
•
•
Generic
Habitual
B Time-bound
•
Implicit inference
Factual / time-bound / implicit inference
• If we can save the bald eagle from extinction, we
can certainly ensure the survival of all endangered
species.
• If we can eliminate air pollution in Deli, we can do it
everywhere.
• If you can beat Federer, you can sweep all the rest
of them.
Meaning: If-clause indicates an event that is bounded in time.
The result clause refers to an action or event that can be
logically inferred from this.
Form: The main verb is in Present tense in both clauses.
Modal verbs <may and can> are often used too.
Factual conditionals
A Timeless
•
•
Generic
Habitual
B Time-bound
•
•
Implicit inference
Explicit inference
Factual / time-bound / explicit inference
• If it’s still snowing out there, my car must be
covered.
• If that call is for me, it should be Sam.
• If the door was locked, then the thief must have
come through the window.
• If he has a villa here, he must be rich.
Meaning: An explicit inference is made in the result-clause
about some time-bound event, action or fact.
Form: Modal verbs <must, should>, along with <be… probably,
likely>, are often used. Also a wider range of tenses can
occur in both clauses.
More on explicit inference
Meaning: Sarcastic statements often take the form of
explicit inference conditionals
Form: Present tense
Examples:
• If he has an IQ of 182, then I’m another
Einstein!
• If this man is guilty, then who is not?
Factual conditionals
A Timeless
•
•
Generic
Habitual
B Time-bound
•
•
Implicit inference
Explicit inference
The end of Factual conditionals
What would you like to do now?
• Back to the Introduction
• Future conditionals
• Imaginative conditionals