will/would

If you booked a FlexSaver fare, your flight will depart anytime within the specific time window you selected.

Why is 'will' used in this sentence? Shouldn't conditional type 2 use 'would'?

To my mind the sentence is correct. Booked is a past tense, not a subjunctive. This is obvious from selected, which is also a past tense.

CB

New2grammar wrote:

So you are saying the 'if' usage does not automatically make a sentence subjunctive? Can you give me a couple of examples in different contexts where 'if' is not subjunctive?

Certainly, New2grammar:

1. I showed him some pictures yesterday. If he liked a picture, he would nod.
2. I used to take long walks in the evenings in those days but if I was tired, I just watched television.

An average English verb has only four forms written as one word (ask, asks, asking, asked) and therefore the indicative and subjunctive are often the same. This makes it easy for a learner but can result in ambiguity sometimes. You will have noticed that even native speakers argue on these forums about the meanings of, say, will or shall in some sentences.

In English, context is often of paramount importance. In many other languages that have more inflections, the meaning is clear and unambiguous without context. I am best familiar with my native language, Finnish. Just to say something in the indicative in the present tense in all the six grammatical persons (I, you, he, we, you, they), 13 different forms of the verb are needed. Another 13 verb forms are needed for the past tense etc. Consequently the problem discussed in this thread couldn't arise in Finnish.

Cheers
CB

New2grammar wrote:

If you booked a FlexSaver fare, your flight will depart anytime within the specific time window you selected. Why is 'will' used in this sentence? Shouldn't conditional type 2 use 'would'?

No, I think that will tells you with certainty that if you book a FlexSaver fare, you are guaranteed to depart anytime within the specific time window you select.

I don't think would be appropriate here.

New2grammar wrote:

1. I showed him some pictures yesterday. If he liked a picture, he would nod. 2. I used to take long walks in the evenings in those days but if I was tired, I just watched television. Thanks CB for your reply. However, if you look at my original example, it uses "will" in the conditional clause while both your examples use a past tense. My question was, shouldn't the sentence use the past tense 'would'. I understand you said at the end of the sentence there's a past tense 'selected' but why all of a sudden there is 'will'? Can you please explain why the original sentence is correct as it is

To me, in these examples, "if" means more "whenever", rather than expressing a condition