Conditional

Question

0 Scenario: I have just sold my motorcycle and my friend asks me why I didn't sell it in the summer. Right now it is spring time and summer hasn't come yet.02br02br00And I reply back with:02br02br001. I would have lost a lot more money if I had sold it in the summer. (Is this incorrect? Summer hasn't come yet, so is it possible to use the 3rd conditional (past conditional ?)02br02br002. I would lose a lot more money if I sold it in the summer. (But is this 2nd conditional (unreal conditional)  correct? This may imply that I still have the bike when I don't)02br02br00So which one should I use or what would you say??0-

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

0I agree with you - 2 makes it sound like you still have the bike.02br
02br
001 is correct. I understand "if I had sold it in the summer" to mean "if I had WAITED to sell it in the summer."0-

Yankee · Answer

0 Hi Jack02br
02br
00I agree with GG. Only your first conditional sentence is correct. It is a so-called "type 3 conditional". Type 3 conditionals talk about 01u00impossible02u00 situations. 02br
02br
00The basic condition in your sentence is "sell motorcycle" and, as you said, that has already happened. The sale is already in the past and you cannot change that. It is now 01u00impossible02u00 to sell your motorcycle at 01u00any02u00 other time.0-

Yankee · Answer

0 Hi again02br
02br
00I neglected to mention your other sentence. Yes, your second sentence is a 2nd conditional. 02br
00Instead of thinking of this kind of conditional sentence as "unreal", it might be less confusing for you to think of it as being "theoretical".0-

Jack112 · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10Grammar Geek12cite101 is correct. I understand "if I had sold it in the summer" to mean "if I had WAITED to sell it in the summer." 12blockquote

101. I would have lost a lot more money if I had sold it in the summer.02br
02br
00Can you explain why #1 is correct? I just sold the bike and it is spring time right now, summer hasn't come!!! How can I use a past conditional when summer hasn't 01b00gone 02b00by yet? If I use the past conditional (#1), doesn't it imply that I'm talking about 01b00last 02b00summer not this coming summer?02br
02br
00Maybe I should've written the scenario this way:02br
00I have just sold my motorcycle and my friend asks me why I didn't 01b00wait until02b00 summer to sell it. Right now it is spring time and summer hasn't come yet.02br
02br
00Hope that clears things up, so is #1 sitll correct? How so?? I just don't see how you can use a past conditional when summer hasn't gone by yet.0-

Yankee · Answer

0 Hi Jack02br
02br
00Because you sold your motorcycle in the past, it is now absolutely impossible to sell it now or in the future. In a type 3 conditional the condition that would need to be fulfilled cannot possibly be fulfilled because it has already happened in the past. The 01b00key 02b00to your sentence is the fact that selling the motorcycle in the future (or 01b00any02b00 time other than when it was actually sold) cannot possibly happen. The motorcycle was sold 01b00in the past02b00. Changing the date of the sale is impossible.02br
02br
00Look at the following scenario:02br
02br
00Today is May 6, 200702br
00I sold my motorcycle to Jack on May 2nd. Jack paid $5000.02br
00Today Fred says: "Hey, have you sold your motorcycle yet? I want to buy it. I'll give you $6000 for it. I'll give you the money tomorrow."02br
02br
00However, it is now 01u00impossible02u00 for you to sell your motorcycle to Jack. You have already sold it. 02br
00Now you can say:02br
01i00If I 01b00hadn't sold02b00 my motorcycle to Jack, I 01b00could have sold02b00 it to Fred for $1000 more. 02i02br
00-OR-02br
01i00If I 01b00had waited02b00 a few days longer to sell my motorcycle, Fred 01b00would have bought02b00 it for $1000 more. 02i01font00(It is impossible to wait longer than you actually waited to sell your motorcycle.)02font02br
02br
00The sentences above are no different from your sentence. They are 3rd conditionals.0-

CalifJim · Answer

0 01blockquote

00How can I use a past conditional when summer hasn't 11b10gone 12b10by yet?12blockquote

10Don't take the name 01u00past02u00 conditional too seriously. All of these patterns use the past 01b00form02b00 of verbs, but that does not mean that past 01b00time02b00 in involved. The past tense 01b00form02b00 is used to suggest remoteness -- remoteness in time makes it truly in past 01b00time02b00 -- but remoteness of possibility or remoteness from reality is another kind of remoteness -- and this can be about a remoteness of possibility or remoteness from reality 01u00at any time02u00. It doesn't have to be 01u00past02u00 time.02br
02br
01i00If I helped you tomorrow, would you help me next week?02i02br
02br
01i00helped02i00 is a past 01b00form02b00, but it's not in past 01b00time02b00. The idea of my helping you is "remote" ( 01i00-ed02i00) not because it is in the past but because it is an envisioned act, not an actual one.02br
02br
01i00If I 01u00had02u00 helped you tomorrow02i00 (or 01i00If I 01u00had02u00 sold it next summer02i00) does seem a little strange, as you say, but it is possible.02br
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01i00If I had helped you tomorrow (instead of today), I would not have missed all the fun at today's party.02i02br
02br
00 These are usually understood as having a missing verb (as in GG's idea of "01u00waiting02u00 to sell" in your motorcycle example).02br
01i02br
00 If I had 01u00decided02u00 to help you tomorrow (instead of today), I would not have ...02i02br
02br
00 Personally, I tend to put in the missing verb to avoid confusion.02br
02br
00 CJ0-

Conditional

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