Which of the two would you say is in use here? ??? Is this a Type 2 Conditional? Yes. ... would ... if [past] ...
1. It would be better/nicer if you spent your time studying rather than idling around.
I am not sure if the above sentence is correct It's fine. but I think I am
hearing a similar sentential construction. I think it is better if
written like this:
It would be better if you start spending your time studying rather than idling around. Also OK.
Or,
It would be better if you spend your time studying rather than idling around. Also OK.
How about this? A Type 2 Conditional? No, because the if clause doesn't contain the simple past. (I'm assuming you are referring to the sentence above, not the one below.)
2. It would be better/nicer if you got your money out and helped that homeless man soaking in rain.
This is a Type 2 conditional.
For the two sentences above, marked 1 and 2, am I making a gentle
supplication to another party or am I stating a result of what might
have happened if something in a conditional term (in the past in time)
were to be met (realized??)? There's
no contradiction in doing both. You're doing both. You are
using your statement of a result that would obtain if time was spent a
certain way in order to make a gentle request, in order to give a hint
about your opinion.
CJ