In Conditionals^x, Clauses^x

I cannot speak for French; perhaps it is just a matter of terminology. I know that Spanish has a distinct set of verb forms used to express condition ('si tuviese hambre, comería' = if I were hungry, I would eat'). This sentence uses the subjunctive form for the 'if' clause and the conditional...

I've tried to find my way through the maze of our past conversation here, Hela, and I see that I have made at least one obvious mistake, and that you were correct in part of your original assumption. I have reviewed my understanding of the Subjunctive Mood, and this sentence-- 'If I caught you,...

Hi, I learnt at school 3 types of conditional sentences; one of them (the easiest) was like this: " If clause" - past tense; "2nd clause" - would+infinitive For example: "If I studied more, I would learn quicker" Well, I recently flied in an Iberia plane who lent us headphones for the...

A/ In 'if'-clauses of conditional sentences we can have either the subjunctive or indicative mood: If I catch you (present indicative), I will eat you. If I caught you (present subjunctive), I would eat you. 1) If I / he were (present subjunctive) rich, I would /should // he would (only)...

Thank you very very much, Mr Micawber. Now I understand better. It's true I tend to confuse the subjunctive with the conditional. A/ after IF-CLAUSES we can have either the conditional mood or the subjunctive, is that right? 1) If I / he WERE (past subj) rich, I would /should // he would...

In your ( 8) X 'In case someone ASKED, I was never here.'-- 'in case' means 'if' (possibility); but 'asked' is past tense (the asking already happened), so there is no logical possibility that the listener could subsequently tell them that 'she was never here'! Your only choice is 'in case...

Good question. All modals are available for a statement with a single clause. So when you report what someone says in the present tense (he says, she says, ...), you don't change the words they used. "would" is available in a direct quote, so it is available in a present-tense report....

All correct. Look at the list again. With "if" statements, "could" is possible for both present and past in the "if" clause. But remember that "could" is a substitute for "may" in the case of the first two in the present. If you want to express that she is able to go (to the party), you will...

Strictly speaking, the modals are not tensed. However, they developed historically from tensed verbs. Each group below shows a "historical present / past" pair. can / could shall / should will / would may / might must - not paired In modern English, any of these can be used in a single...

It was a curious business. It made things very awkward for foreign businessmen who, when faced with a few stumbling words of French or German from their British counterparts, were put in the difficult position of deciding how to guide the conversation gently back to a language that was...