Present Unreal Conditional

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Believer

#491228 Thu, 20 Mar 08 10:10 PM

Hi,

i have some questions on the subject of present unreal conditionals and hope you would be able to help me.

1. I would play chess more if I didn't listen to pop music so much.

If the sentence had the word 'had' in the 'if' clause, then I would have considered it a second conditional talking about what 'I' would do presently in the unreal situation like my two example sentences below. For the kind of sentence above with the 'did' in the 'if' clause, I feel it looks to be a sentence that talks about what would happen if something did or did not happen with no sense of unreality.

2. I would play chess more if I hadn't gone to a trip last week -- I think this is a mixed conditional talking about what 'I' would be doing now if I didn't take a trip last week.

3. I would play chess more if I had more time. -- I think this is a typical second conditional.

Sorry, but I have one more question: For the type of no. 3, sometimes, it is hard for me to distinguish if the same sentence is taking about a present unreal conditional or a future unreal conditional when the modal 'would' is in the main clause.

Believer

Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006

Contributing Member (1,969)

Clauses, Conditionals, Mixed conditionals, Modals

Marius Hancu

#491258 Fri, 21 Mar 08 12:19 AM

1. I would play chess more if I didn't listen to pop music so much. But I listen a lot ...

3. I would play chess more if I had more time. But I do not have more time

both are

Present Unreal Conditional, as per:

http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/presentconditional.html#presentunreal

where you find these examples corresponding respectively to each of the above:

I would read more if I didn't watch so much TV.

She would travel around the world if she had more money. But she doesn't have much money.

2. Yes, that's a mixed conditional, as per:

http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/mixedconditional.html

Marius Hancu

Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006

Montreal, Canada

Veteran Member (11,673)

Conditionals, Mixed conditionals

CalifJim

#491279 Fri, 21 Mar 08 03:01 AM

Believer
I would play chess more if I didn't listen to pop music so much.

Believer
For the kind of sentence above with the 'did' in the 'if' clause, I feel it looks to be a sentence that talks about what would happen if something did or did not happen with no sense of unreality.

Maybe you're idea of "unreality" is not the same as the idea of "unreality" used by people who explain the conditional structures!

The sentence doesn't say I play chess (more). It doesn't say I don't listen to pop music (so much). Maybe that's why the word "unreality" is used.

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,979)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Clauses, Conditionals

Yankee

#491305 Fri, 21 Mar 08 06:32 AM

Hi Believer

Maybe making the wording more specific will also help you understand.

Let's say that the following sentences describe your habits factually (i.e. the sentences tell you what is "real"):

1. I play chess one hour a day.

2. I listen to pop music four hours a day.

If the sentences above are "real", then the following sentences are not "real" (i.e. they are not factual statements about your habits):

1a. I play chess two hours a day.

2a. I listen to pop music three hours a day.

Sentences 1a and 2a are simply two untrue statements. They are not yet part of a single conditional sentence.

An IF-sentence talks about a condition, and then states the result if the condition is met.

You can present sentence 2 as an "unreal" condition this way:

- "If I listened to pop music three hours a day, ..."

To finish your IF-sentence, you then say what the result of fulfilling the "unreal" condition would be:

- "... I would play chess two hours a day."

Your original sentence was simply less specific about the amounts of time spent on each activity, but the concept of "real" vs "unreal" is the same:

Yankee

Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006

Connecticut, USA

Senior Member (4,157)

Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Conditionals

Believer

#491716 Sat, 22 Mar 08 05:59 AM

Thank you, Marius, Yankee and CalifJim

Please tell why MrPedantic said what he said in this response post of his for a threat named 'Type 2 and type 3 of "If clause"' in regard to no. 1 sentence and does it exhibit any relevance to my line of inquiry.

MrPedantic wrote:

1. It would be nicer, if you did X.

2. It would have been nicer, if you had done X.

#1 is open: it relates to a course of action that the speaker thinks desirable, at any time.

#2 is closed: it relates to an imaginary course of action in the past, which the speaker thinks desirable, but which didn't in fact occur.