Past and Conditional

1. Did he ask you if you wanted to buy the car? (Is the 'if' part for past tense or is it a conditional? If it is a conditional, how so?)

Thanks.

jack,

maverick88 is right on track with this. This is an indirect (yes/no) question structure, not an unreal conditional structure. As such, we can even substitute "whether" for "if": Did he ask you whether you wanted to buy the car?

Probably the closest conditional structure like that is "He would ask you for further information [if / *whether] you wanted to buy the car."

CJ

No, not that I know of, providing we adopt a broad definition of "indirect question" of course. And sometimes only "whether" will do.

It's hard to tell [if / whether] he's still alive.
I'm never really certain [if / whether] I should speak up in such situations.
Meg obviously didn't care [if /whether] her sister was happy or not.

The medical experts will have to investigate [whether / ??if] this treatment is safe and effective.
They talked at length about [whether / ??if] they should contribute their hard-earned money to the cause.
It all depends on [whether / ?if] the others are going, too.
[Whether / *If] she stays or goes is of no concern to me.

It appears that post-prepositional and sentence-initial positions resist "if" the most.

CJ