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Jigneshbharati Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

If they are to

A young Sri Lanka team must play with arrogance if they are to upset holders India in Thursday's ICC Champions Trophy match at the Oval in London, former captain Kumar Sangakkara said.
https://m.rediff.com/cricket/report/sangakkara-on-how-sri-lanka-can-upset-india-at-the-oval-champions-trophy/20170606.htm
Please explain to me the grammatical form, function and use of "if they are to"?
  

Top answer

" refers to a hypothetical future event. "to be to" here can be classed as a type of modal verb; it is like "if they will upset", except that in reality we don't use "will" in such cases.

  • " refers to a hypothetical future event.
  • "to be to" here can be classed as a type of modal verb; it is like "if they will upset", except that in reality we don't use "will" in such cases.
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1 Answers
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"if they are to upset ..." refers to a hypothetical future event. "to be to" here can be classed as a type of modal verb; it is like "if they will upset", except that in reality we don't use "will" in such cases.

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