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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Future Real vs. Future Unreal

Hello,

Could you please tell me which of the following statements is most appropriate to use when talking about things that I will/would do in a certain situation if faced with such in the future? I was wondering whether I should use future real or future unreal if asked during a job interview.

1. If I came across a person who was being unreasonable, I don't think I would have a problem adjusting.
2. If I come across a person who is being unreasonable, I don't think I will have a problem adjusting.
3. If I were to come across a person who was being unreasonable, I don't think I would have a problem adjusting.

Thanks in advance for your inputs.
  

Top answer

I would use the second.

— Ivanhr

  • I would use the second.
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14 Answers
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I would use the second.
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Thank you for your answer, but I wonder why it is more appropriate to use #2 (future real ) than #'s 1 and 3 (future unreal) in this context when this could also be considered a hypothetical situation, but could possibly happen in the future. Kindly explain. Thanks.

Also, in #2, can I use would instead of will as in the following?
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In my opinion, 1# and #3 are possible but less likely than #2. If you used #1 or #3 it would suggest that you don't anticipate any unreasonable customers but you can't really make that prediction, not being familiar with the job and everything.

Would is not normally used instead of will in the main clause of a conditional sentence. Sometimes, depending on what you want to say, you may us
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If someone asked this question during an interview, the mood was set for a possible but unlikely conditional, even though the same scenario may or may not come true. So # 1 is the logical choice.

#2 is a more real scenario, but the subjunctive mood suggests that it will likely happen. So it really depends on the intende mood by the personing asking the question.
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This is much clearer to me now. Thanks so much for your explanation.

Just one more question, with reference to your last sentence, do you mean we can also use modals in past form such as should, could or might in a future real conditional sentence?

Kindly clarify. Thanks.
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dimsumexpress#2 is a more real scenario, but the subjunctive mood suggests that it will likely happen.

Hi, Dim

#2 isn't subjunctive, but the indicative, simply because it is not a hypothetical statement, but rather a likely event, requiring the 1st conditional, as used here.
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I would use the 2nd and 3rd sentence.
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Thanks, dimsumexpress, for your input, but I've got a little confused when you say, "#2 is a more real scenario, but the subjunctive mood suggests that it will likely happen." If it is something that will likely happen, why do we use future unreal/subjunctive mood?

Another thing is what if there was no question being asked and I just brought up this specific situation to the interviewe
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AnonymousThis is much clearer to me now. Thanks so much for your explanation.

Just one more question, with reference to your last sentence, do you mean we can also use modals in past form such as should, could or might in a future real conditional sentence?

Kindly clarify. Thanks.
This post is in reference to IvanHr's last response. T
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