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Hanuman_2000 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

If conditional

Hello,

For nonfactual present and future condition, we use the if conditional clause such as

1. If I had a lot of money, I would buy Ferrari.

How to identify if the above sentence is about nonfactual of present or future?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

This is a duplicate post. Conditional II applies to both present and future; it is sometimes simply called 'non-past'. You will have to use common sense to decide which each situation refers to.

— Mister Micawber

  • This is a duplicate post.
  • Conditional II applies to both present and future; it is sometimes simply called 'non-past'.
  • You will have to use common sense to decide which each situation refers to.
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4 Answers
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This is a duplicate post. Conditional II applies to both present and future; it is sometimes simply called 'non-past'. You will have to use common sense to decide which each situation refers to.
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hanuman_2000If I had a lot of money, I would buy Ferrari.
It would have to be 'a Ferrari', unless you were going to buy the company.
hanuman_2000How to identify if the above sentence is about nonfactual of present or future?
Since 'have' is a stative verb in this context, the first part of the sentence seems to be a h
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ozzourtiSince 'have' is a stative verb in this context, the first part of the sentence seems to be a hypothetical present. The second part, however, uses 'buy', a dynamic verb, which in its base form cannot be used to describe a state—instead, it describes an action—so the most logical conclusion here is that it is a hypothetical future.
I agree: If I had a lo
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The following pattern seems to work for the second conditional:

1. If (stative verb) + would (stative verb) = hypothetical present:
If I had a lot of money, I would be happy.

2. If (stative verb) + would (dynamic verb) = hypothetical future:
If I had a lot of money, I would buy a Ferrari.

3. If (dynamic verb) + would (dyn
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