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Sabtu, 30 Juni 2012

Conditional Sentences

Conditional Sentences Type I , II , III .
Conditional Sentences are also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses. They are used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled. There are three types of Conditional Sentences.

Conditional Sentence Type 1
It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form
if + Simple Present, will-Future
Example: If I find her address, I will send her an invitation.
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I will send her an invitation if I find her address.
Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Simple Present and will-Future on how to form negative sentences.
Example: If I don’t see him this afternoon, I will phone him in the evening.
 

Use
Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. An action in the future will only happen if a certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We don't know for sure whether the condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather realistic – so we think it is likely to happen.

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.
I want to send an invitation to a friend. I just have to find her address. I am quite sure, however, that I will find it.
Example: If John has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.
I know John very well and I know that he earns a lot of money and that he loves Ferraris. So I think it is very likely that sooner or later he will have the money to buy a Ferrari.

Conditional Sentence Type 2
It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form
if + Simple Past, main clause with Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)
Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I would send her an invitation if I found her address.
Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Simple Past and Conditional I on how to form negative sentences.
Example: If I had a lot of money, I wouldn’t stay here.
Were instead of Was
In IF Clauses Type II, we usually use ‚were‘ – even if the pronoun is I, he, she or it –.
Example: If I were you, I would not do this.
Use
Conditional Sentences Type II refer to situations in the present. An action could happen if the present situation were different. I don't really expect the situation to change, however. I just imagine „what would happen if …“

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.
I would like to send an invitation to a friend. I have looked everywhere for her address, but I cannot find it. So now I think it is rather unlikely that I will eventually find her address.
Example: If John had the money, he would buy a Ferrari.
I know John very well and I know that he doesn't have much money, but he loves Ferraris. He would like to own a Ferrari (in his dreams). But I think it is very unlikely that he will have the money to buy one in the near future.
   Conditional Sentence Type 3
It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

 Form
if + Past Perfect, main clause with Conditional II
Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I would have sent her an invitation if I had found her address.
Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Past Perfect and Conditional II on how to form negative sentences.
Example: If I hadn’t studied, I wouldn’t have passed my exams.
Use
Conditional Sentences Type III refer to situations in the past. An action could have happened in the past if a certain condition had been fulfilled. Things were different then, however. We just imagine, what would have happened if the situation had been fulfilled.

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.
Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation to a friend. I didn't find her address, however. So in the end I didn't send her an invitation.
Example: If John had had the money, he would have bought a Ferrari.
I knew John very well and I know that he never had much money, but he loved Ferraris. He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he never had the money to buy one.
Exceptions
Sometimes Conditional Sentences Type I, II and III can also be used with other tenses.

So far you have only learned the basic rules for Conditional Sentences. It depends on the context, however, which tense to use. So sometimes it's possible for example that in an IF Clause Type I another tense than Simple Present is used, e.g. Present Progressive or Present Perfect.

Conditional Sentences Type I (likely)

Condition refers to:
IF Clause
Main Clause
future action
Simple Present
If the book is interesting, …
Future I
…I will buy it.
Imperative
…buy it.
Modal Auxiliary
…you can buy it.
action going on now
Present Progressive
If he is snoring, …
Future I
…I will wake him up.
Imperative
…wake him up.
Modal Auxiliary
…you can wake him up.
finished action
Present Perfect
If he has moved into his new flat, …
Future I
…we will visit him.
Imperative
…visit him.
Modal Auxiliary
…we can visit him.
improbable action
should + Infinitive
If she should win this race, …
Future I
…I will congratulate her.
Imperative
…congratulate her.
Modal Auxiliary
…we can congratulate her.
present facts
Simple Present
If he gets what he wants, …
Simple Present
…he is very nice.


Conditional Sentences Type II (unlikely)

Condition refers to:
IF Clause
Main Clause
present / future event
Simple Past
If I had a lot of money, …
Conditional I
…I would travel around the world.
consequence in the past
Simple Past
If I knew him, …
Conditional II
…I would have said hello.


Conditional Sentences Type II (impossible)

Condition refers to:
IF Clause
Main Clause
present
Past Perfect
If I had known it, …
Conditional I
…I would not be here now.
past
Past Perfect
If he had learned for the test, …
Conditional II
…he would not have failed it.

7 komentar:

  1. woooww.. saya nda ngerti salam kenal saya jga dari sultra..

    BalasHapus
    Balasan
    1. bagian mana yang tidak dimengerti?

      Hapus
    2. semua muanya.. saya ga tau bahasa inggris.. kita guru??

      Hapus
    3. ooww... saya bukan guru... msh calon guru. alias mahasiswa bhs Inggris. Sy jg smentara mmpelajari bhs inggris saat ini...

      Hapus
    4. nanti kunjungi juga blog saya yah.. salam kenal..

      Hapus
  2. salut buat blog ini.. tp tolong disediakan dengan terjemahannya, biar yg ga ngerti bahasa inggris bisa paham jg...

    BalasHapus
    Balasan
    1. iya seharusnya begitu... aku akan usahain nanti, hehe masalahx sibuk kuliah jg, jd ada waktu sdikit langsung digunakan buat ngepost, ^^

      Hapus