Difference between revisions of "WS:conditionals"

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(The first conditional)
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Quickly, in the part of the sentence that does <u>not</u> include the condition (which is often introduced by <span style="color:darkblue;">if</span>), the following modals are frequently found
 
Quickly, in the part of the sentence that does <u>not</u> include the condition (which is often introduced by <span style="color:darkblue;">if</span>), the following modals are frequently found
 
<ul>
 
<ul>
   <li>The first conditional  = <span style="color:darkblue;">Ø, can, will, may, shall</span> <span style="color:darkred;">V</span></li>
+
   <li>The first conditional   
 +
<ul>
 +
<li><b>semantics</b>: future event likely to occur / logical consequence </li>
 +
<li><b>syntax</b>: <span style="color:darkblue;">Ø, can, will, may, shall</span> <span style="color:darkred;">V</span></li>
 +
</ul>
 +
</li>
 
    
 
    
 
   <li>The second conditional = <span style="color:green;">d</span>, <span style="color:darkblue;">could, would, should, might</span>  <span style="color:darkred;">V</span></li>
 
   <li>The second conditional = <span style="color:green;">d</span>, <span style="color:darkblue;">could, would, should, might</span>  <span style="color:darkred;">V</span></li>

Revision as of 21:54, 17 April 2013

In general, the standard EFL grammars have divided the conditional mode in English into 3 types on the basis of both syntax and semantics:

(It was not simply done to encourage students to learn the ordinals from 1st-3rd :)

Quickly, in the part of the sentence that does not include the condition (which is often introduced by if), the following modals are frequently found

  • The first conditional
    • semantics: future event likely to occur / logical consequence
    • syntax: Ø, can, will, may, shall V
  • The second conditional = d, could, would, should, might V
  • The third conditional = primarily , coulda', woulda', shoulda' (and mighta') Ved

The first conditional

  1. If we finish in time, we can go to the 7:30pm showing.
  2. If she's flying in late Monday, she may want us to start later on Tuesday morning, so she can recover from jet lag.
  3. If I have my daughter, I Ø leave work early to pick her up from the airport. (general truth)
  4. If he has his daughter, he Ø leaves work early to pick her up from the airport. (general rule: note that the -s is added to the verb as there is no modal auxiliary)
  5. If I have my daughter Friday evening, I will (have to) leave work early to pick her up. (more specific)
  6. If I have my daughter Friday evening, I may ask for Friday afternoon off so I can go shopping and clean the house.

The second conditional

The third conditional