Conditional

Open conditional ('Conditional I').

Hi Woody,

I can't remember where I picked up the term, but I took it to be synonymous with 'Conditional l', and I don't particularly care for the 'I, II, III' terminology. It's open because the speaker has no overt opinion as to the truth or possiblity of the 'if' clause:

'If you have a match, I've got a cigarette.' The speaker is open, i.e. has no preconception about the existence of the listener's matches.

Sure! First conditional just requires a present tense in the 'if'clause; it states, as I said, an open condition-- what is said in the condition is possible; and this condition refers either to present or to future time.

Here's some from the Concordancer:

into the hands of the living God" if you have abused Him in your hands. I am a
efund, Page 135. The same is true if you have itemized your deductions and later
lace here in the Middle Ages. If you have taken this stroll in the morning, a
us then where we shall find him. If you have ever aided him in evil, help us no
latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent events so closely
ation." "I will tell you, then. If you have heard anything of my unhappy histo
nd I have never had them on." "If you have never worn them, why did you put th
cerning Sir Henry Baskerville. If you have not had any report within the last
a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are not fined for the rea
should destroy your letter?" "If you have read the letter you will know."
in the history of the country. But if you have, why, then, how could any gentleman

Well, maybe not all of them-- some of the sentences are cut off too short to be sure of; but most of these are first conditional with present perfect, I think.

Heck, I can do it with present perfect durative: 'If you have been reading this thread, then you will recognize that MM can be either laconic or long-winded.'