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Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said it would close if a buyer was not found quickly.

Can you tell if the sentence was a second conditional 'it would close if a buyer wasn't found quickly.' Or first conditional 'it will close if a buyer isn't found quickly.' originally in direct speech?

Clive · Accepted Answer

He said, "It will close if a buyer isn't found quickly".

Anonymous · Answer

CliveHe said, "It will close if a buyer isn't found quickly".

This dictionary says its second conditional, Sir. It's on no. 2, the first sentence.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/would

Clive · Answer

He doesn't seem to me to be talking at all hypothetically.

Anonymous · Answer

CliveHe doesn't seem to me to be talking at all hypothetically.

A: Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said, 'it would close if a buyer was not found quickly.'

The indirect statement of this is, 'Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said that it would close if a buyer was not found quickly.'

B: Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said, 'it will close if a buyer is not found quickly.'

The indirect statement of this is, 'Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said that it would close if a buyer was not found quickly.'

So wether it was a second conditional or first conditional, indirect statements for the both are the same, right?

Clive · Answer

Your original question was 'Can you tell which conditonal he used . . . ?

My argument is that he was speaking about a real possibility,that related to the immediate future.
First conditional seems the natural native--speaker choice.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThis dictionary says it's a second conditional

No it doesn't. Not in the link you gave. It says this when I open the link:

2 (expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation.
‘he would lose his job if he were identified’

‘Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said it would close if a buyer was not found quickly.’

I don't see anything there that classifies any sentence as first, second, or third conditional.

As it happens, the sentence does contain a second conditional within it, but the dictionary didn't say that.

AnonymousCan you tell if the sentence was a second conditional 'it would close if a buyer wasn't found quickly.' Or first conditional 'it will close if a buyer isn't found quickly.' originally in direct speech?

In many cases you cannot tell exactly what the original tenses were when all you have is the reported speech. In this case we don't know whether the original statement was with "will close" or "would close" because both can be reported the same way, but as Clive has said, the original was probably "will close".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJim AnonymousThis dictionary says it's a second conditionalNo it doesn't. Not in the link you gave. It says this when I open the link:2 (expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation.‘he would lose his job if he were identified’‘Later that year Mr Craig put the club on the market and said it would close if a buyer was not found quickly.’I don't see anything there that classifies any sentence as first, second, or third conditional.As it happens, the sentence does contain a second conditional within it, but the dictionary didn't say that.AnonymousCan you tell if the sentence was a second conditional 'it would close if a buyer wasn't found quickly.' Or first conditional 'it will close if a buyer isn't found quickly.' originally in direct speech?In many cases you cannot tell exactly what the original tenses were when all you have is the reported speech. In this case we don't know whether the original statement was with "will close" or "would close" because both can be reported the same way, but as Clive has said, the original was probably "will close".CJ

On the dictionary, the sentence was under No. 2 that says (expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. That means it was 'would' in the original sentence before making it into indirect speech. Thats why I said there was would in the direct statement.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousOn the dictionary, the sentence was under No. 2 that says (expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. That means it was 'would' in the original sentence before making it into indirect speech.

No. You've got that wrong, and I don't know why you didn't understand it, but it doesn't mean it was 'would' in the original before changing it to indirect speech. The dictionary definition and example say nothing about what the original direct speech was.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJim AnonymousOn the dictionary, the sentence was under No. 2 that says (expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. That means it was 'would' in the original sentence before making it into indirect speech.No. You've got that wrong, and I don't know why you didn't understand it, but it doesn't mean it was 'would' in the original before changing it to indirect speech. The dictionary definition and example say nothing about what the original direct speech was.CJ

I understand but it says would is used there because if the consequence of imagined event or situation not real event or situation. So that would be second conditional.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI understand but it says would is used there because if the consequence of imagined event or situation not real event or situation. So that would be second conditional.

Maybe it was a bad example. The people that wrote the dictionary didn't think anyone would delve so deeply into the fact that part of that example was indirect speech. When you consider this, maybe they should have put this example into a category other than 2 in their dictionary.

It is highly unlikely, however, that if you were talking to Mr Craig at the time, he would actually say, "The club would close if a buyer was not found". He owns the club, so he doesn't have to guess whether he will close the club or not. The direct speech version almost has to be as Clive told you at the beginning. "The club will close if a buyer is not found".

CJ

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