Search results for 'tag:Conditionals tag:Grammar' matching tags 'Conditionals' and 'Grammar'

Re: real conditionals

olga55 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:36:43 GMT

Fandorin, not really. Here is the reference: http://www.englishlanguageguide.com/english/grammar/conditionals.asp

real conditionals

olga55 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:52:54 GMT

Hello. I'm a little bit puzzeled with differences in this two sentences:

Grammar book says: If I'm going to catch the train, I'll have to leave now. ( We talk about the future)

But if I said : If I'm going to catch the train, I have to leave now. Would the second sentence ( I have to leave now) render the same meaning as for time concerning? In other words, is the second sentence correct?

Thank you.

Re: Grammar Questions

Goodman — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:35:40 GMT

Hi Carissa,

Welcome to the forum,

I have never seen or heard anyone who would use âin behalfâ in any context.

The expression is always âon behalfâ, meaning representing.

On behalf of my family, I would like to take this time to thank everyone for coming.

As to the auxiliary words usage, itâs often depending on the mood and intent of the writer to express the willingness and certainty.

I will come to her wedding. Very certain

I would come if I have time- itâs conditional but possible.

I wonât go to her weeding- definitely not, a negative certainty.

I shall (rarely used) perhaps, I needed to â¦iffy

I must go to her wedding- very certain, a strong will

I might go to her wedding. Not very sure.

I hope this helps.

Re: conditional: no difference?

Clive — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:38:16 GMT

Hi,
Another way to look at 'I was . . . ' is to consider that it is Simple Past tense. If your listener is influenced by the grammar they are hearing from you, they will expect a past-related statement, eg

"If Tom was a millionaire . . . he certainly didn't tell me when I met him at the party last year".

The context, of course, usually makes the intended meaning clear when you start with 'If someone was . . .'

Best wishes, Clive

Re: the grammar behind " , be it ..."

Avangi — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:51:31 GMT

You're right about the meaning. Since it's subjunctive, the ear (brain) takes it as conditional without a qualifying conjunction. You could say, "whether it be house or island."

- A.

Re: Some very basic grammar questions

CalifJim — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:40:49 GMT

They are all correct.

For lengthier discussions with lots of examples of the use of the past perfect tense after before,

see Re: before past perfect tense , past tense and Re: Past Simple or Past Perfect.

This is a common pattern for expressing "interruptive relationships" between actions. (Leaving university "interrupts" the normal course of events which would have led to exams; the sacking "interrupts" the normal course of events which would have led to an explanation of the behavior.) The main clause contains the "interrupting" action. The before clause contains the "interrupted" action. Because the interrupted action has not taken place, the past perfect may be considered a way of expressing a counterfactual, that is, it may be considered a subjunctive with family resemblances to the if clause of the third conditional, thus: if I had taken the final exam or if he had had a chance to explain.

using "couldn't" in conditionals

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:01:16 GMT

Is it possible to use "couldn't" in 2nd and 3rd conditional? For example:

If it rained, I couldn't come to your house.

it sounds strange to me but I can't find a grammar rule against it. I would use "wouldn't be able to"
Similarialy, the use of "suppose"

Suppose you were poor. You couldn't buy a house.

Unreal conditionals: was/were + infinitive

lisadove — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:14:29 GMT

Hi.

I'm teaching English using a textbook that doesn't give detailed explanations or rules for grammar. I'm a well-educated native speaker, but I haven't studied Teaching English. I don't have a good, solid reference book and I doubt I can find one here. I understand "backshifting", but the book has now thrown in this structure without any explanation:

        If you were to put that money into a savings account, you would be less likely to spend it.

Can you give me a rule or explanation for when this structure is used? I mean, I have no trouble with the usage, but I don't know how to explain it to my students.

BTW, the book does have some interesting exercises for analyzing unreal conditionals:

        If Dave were here, he'd help us.                                                                (Is Dave here? Is he going to help us?)
        If we hadn't gotten stuck in traffic, we wouldn't have missed the flight.          (Did we get stuck in traffic? Did we miss the flight?)

Re: meat is inspected by federal agents, they would not inspect every animal to be...

shaved — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:23:26 GMT

both sentences contain a tense shift (or conditional shift I guess)

Jackson6612
Although meat is inspected by federal agents, they would not inspect every animal to be slaughtered.

should read: Although meat is inspected by federal agents, they do not inspect every animal to be slaughtered.

Jackson6612
Meat is inspected by federal agents, though/although they would not inspect every animal to be slaughtered.

should read: Meat is inspected by federal agents, though/although they do not inspect every animal to be slaughtered.

Both sentences are fine. They really don't even have different shades of meaning. The difference between them is one of meter and rhythm rather than grammar. You would be fine either way.

Re: would or will love

Huevos — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:00:40 GMT

New2grammar
Suggest a model that you think will/would bring the aircraft to 10,000 feet.

By model what do you mean? Engine?

New2grammar
I wanted to ask you to fill in the if parts and those are my takes.

It's not that simple because the main verb of the conditional clause is "think" (present tense). "Love" is a subordinate verb of the conditional clause.