CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Conditional Sentences Conditional Sentences are sentences discussing factual implications or hypothetical situations and their consequences.

Conditional Links The principal conditional links are as follows: 1.Providing, provided (that), as/so along as are approximately equivalent. They are all emphatic forms of IF, emphasizing condition. Providing e.g.: Providing you’re back by eight o’clock, you can go to the airport to welcome our group.

Conditional Links 2. Even if introduces an extreme condition. Emphasis is on even, not if. The condition after even if may or may not be a reality. even if e.g. You should visit Athens even if it is expensive. 3. Unless means “except on the condition that” and it can generally be replaced by if…not or providing… not. unless e.g. They’ll drive to the concert hall in an open car unless it is raining. (They’ll drive to the concert in an open car if it is not raining. )

Conditional Links 4. Supposing may, like other conditional links, be used at the beginning of a sentence. In this position, supposing can alternate with suppose. Supposing/suppose e.g. Supposing/suppose the crowd gets out of hand. What will the police do?

Conditional Links 5. Use only if when the main clause is affirmative. It means “only on the condition that” only if e.g. As a girl, my mother went shopping only if she had finished her assigned chores.

Conditional Links 6. Wish and hope are similar in meaning. Wish usually expresses a feeling of regret about an event whose outcome is known or expected (it is often used to refer to unreal situations). Hope usually expresses a feeling about an event whose outcome is unknown.

Conditional Links Time ReferenceExampleNotes PRESENT I wish I were in Hawaii. (I’m not in Hawaii, and I regret it) I hope James is enjoying Tokyo. (I don’t know whether he is or not) The main verb is simple past, past progressive or could. Usually present progressive is used to refer to a present situation. PAST I wish I had been more patient. (I wasn’t patient, and I regret it) I hope he didn’t forget the mail. (I don’t know whether he forgot it) Past Perfect or could have + participle is used for past time reference. Simple past, past progressive, present perfect simple and progressive are used for past reference.

Conditional Links Time ReferenceExampleNotes FUTURE I wish it would rain tonight. (Most likely, it won’t rain.) I hope it rains tonight. (There is a good chance that it will rain.) Use would to express a wish about the future. Use simple present or future tense to express hope about the future.)

Semantics in Conditional Clauses 1. FACTUAL CONDITIONAL SENTENCES Factual conditional sentences are of high frequency in everyday English, and they include three types: generic, habitual and inference.

Semantics in Conditional Clauses a. Generic factual conditions express relationships that are true and unchanging. e.g. If oil is mixed with water, it floats. If you boil water, it vaporizes. Because of their unchanging truth value, these conditionals normally take a simple present tense in both clauses. They are especially frequent in scientific writing, since the sciences are often concerned with such absolute relationships.

Semantics in Conditional Clauses b. Habitual factual conditionals resemble generic factuals in that they also express a relationship that is not bounded in time; however, it is based on habit instead of physical law. Habitual factuals express either past or present relationships that are typically or habitually true. e.g. If I wash the dishes, Sally dries them. (present) If Nancy said, “jump!”, Bob jumped. (past) This type of conditional sentence is frequent in conversation. Both clauses usually have the same tense: simple present in both clauses if the habitual relationship refers to extended present time; simple past in both clauses if the sentence refers to a past habit.

Semantics in Conditional Clauses Note that for both generic and habitual conditionals it is possible to substitute when or whenever for if and still express more or less the same idea. e.g. When(ever) you boil water, it vaporizes.

c. Factual conditions may also deal with inferences (either implicit or explicit) based on the speaker’s prior knowledge. Factual conditionals that express inference are different from generic or habitual factuals in that they make use of a much wider range of tense and aspect markers and they also occur with certain modal auxiliaries. e.g. If there was a happy man in the world that night, it was Johnny If it’s Tuesday, it’s Sam’s birthday. If it’s raining, my car must be getting wet.. Semantics in Conditional Clauses