Conditional

Hello Jack

If so, why can't I use this mixed conditional? 1. If I am still living round here, I would have bought a guard dog too.

This has a very strange meaning, as it stands. It's an inferential if-statement, rather than a conditional: the main clause draws a conclusion from the if-clause.

It requires a context like this:

MrP has forgotten where he lives.
He wanders into Jack's neighbourhood.
It seems familiar. He knows he's lived there before. Does he still live there?
Then he notices that in Jack's neighbourhood, everyone walks along with a guard dog.
MrP looks down. He has no guard dog.
He utters the immortal words:

'If I am still living round here, I would have bought a guard dog too. But I don't have a guard dog. So I'm not still living here.'

(Though it would be more idiomatic to say: 'if I still live round here'.)

But if (as you suggest) you match an 'imaginary' verb with 'would have', you get:

'If I were still living round here/If I still lived round here, I would have bought a guard dog too.'

Which is much more usual.

2.

But this is correct right? 'If I don't live round here, (then that means that) I wouldn't have done that'. It has a slightly amnesiac quality.

Again, it's inferential, rather than conditional: 'If I don't live round here, I wouldn't have done that. (But I did do that, so I must live round here.)'

You can switch the clauses, which shows it's not a true conditional:

'If I wouldn't have done that, [it must mean] I don't live round here.'

Mixing conditionals has odd results.

MrP

I like your analysis of Hela's question 1, Paco!

MrP

Thanks Paco, but I have suddenly realized that I misunderstood Mr P's words. I thought that he said that the sentence meant that the speaker IS STILL LIVING there and not WAS LIVING there THEN. [what an awful sentence this is, but I don't know how to improve it ]

My apologies to Mr P, I must have spent too much time on the conditional yesterday!

I'm eager to read the answer to Jack112's post though.

All the best,
Hela

I don't think the question you are raising is related to the usage of if-conditionals. It is rather a problem how to describe a past event that happened intermittently. Do you apply a conditional construction to such a past event in your language? In the Japanese language we use a construct such as "Usually Y. But when X happened, Z" or "When X didn't happen, Y. And/But when X happened, Z". I believe this way of description would be common to almost all the languages.

So what I'm telling stories in the past, it doesn't matter what type of conditional I use? Why is that? Or do I just use type 2 conditional? I don't understand how to use conditionals when I'm telling stories.

Do you guys have some links? Or something I can read?

Thanks.

I don't think you have to use any conditional.

Let's say I do need to use it. What would I use and why? Can you give me some exmaples too?

Thanks.