By Direct questions, Conditionals

they will remember to bring the salads. / ... In the conditional patterns, the if-clause has a different (adverbial) nature, and doesn't take will If they (*will) give me a refund, I'll spend it on a new shirt. (* = ungrammatical)-- unless there is emphasis on some benefit to the...

I {can / could} buy a house like that if I {save / saved} my money for a few years.{ } indicates correlated choices. (The first choice goes with the first choice; the second choice goes with the second choice.) CJ

1, They began asking us several months ago if we would stay. Not a conditional at all. if/whether we would stay is an indirect question.2. I said I would stay if I could do two shows a night.-- looks to be a type 2 conditional (unreal) Yes. Type 2.3. If there would be a church in this...

Hi, N2G,Besides in indirect questions (the examples previously given), if + will works also to indicate volition (or refusal in its negative form, "if + won't" ) or insistence, and, yes, it can be used at the beginning of a sentence. Here are the links to some other threads where...

I know 'would' carries many meanings. My problem is sometimes I find it difficult to tell which meaning the speaker uses. I think I understand its hypothetical usage, and in some contexts, its politeness usage. Below is a post that has several woulds I have trouble interpreting. I also...

Thank you very much for your aswer, Tanit, expecially for the first list you provide. I had not included these cases:In formal/emphatic conditional sentences: "Should you need further information, please call ..."When expressing wishes starting with may: "May you find what...

Hi Giuseppe, and welcome!The structure you're referring to is called "inversion."Your examples fall into a singular category (that of negative/restrictive expression) which includes other expressions, such as barely, scarcely, hardly, seldom, little, never, under no circumstances,...

Hi, "I shall be glad to go, if you will accompany me." => This use of if + will is common in polite requests. Will does not express conditional meaning, but volition. Think of "If you will" here as "If you are kind enough to," "If you are willing to," "If you want to." Opposite to that,...

Goodman wrote: Yankee wrote:Did you read the rest of my post, MrC? I attempted to make it clear why YL's sentence works.The danger in stating absolute rules in prescriptive grammar is that doing so doesn't allow for legitimate exceptions.For example, many grammar books state that the word...

Yankee wrote:Did you read the rest of my post, MrC? I attempted to make it clear why YL's sentence works.The danger in stating absolute rules in prescriptive grammar is that doing so doesn't allow for legitimate exceptions.For example, many grammar books state that the word 'would' may not be...