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Vincent Teo Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
If / When
Which is corrrect?
(a) If his wife is sick, he will take care / takes care of her.
(b) When his wife is sick, he will take / takes care of his wife.
(a) If his wife is sick, he will take care / takes care of her.
(b) When his wife is sick, he will take / takes care of his wife.
Top answer
Vincent, you remember that when we use the present tense (he takes care of her) it is something that happens all the time, every day, or very often. The first one is a conditional: if she is sick, he will take care of her. The second one tells you that his wife is sick very often, and when she is sick, he takes care of her.
- Vincent, you remember that when we use the present tense (he takes care of her) it is something that happens all the time, every day, or very often.
- The first one is a conditional: if she is sick, he will take care of her.
- The second one tells you that his wife is sick very often, and when she is sick, he takes care of her.
- We don't use the simple present very often.
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4 Answers
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Vincent, you remember that when we use the present tense (he takes care of her) it is something that happens all the time, every day, or very often.
The first one is a conditional: if she is sick, he will take care of her.
The second one tells you that his wife is sick very often, and when she is sick, he takes care of her.
We don't use the simple present very often.
The first one is a conditional: if she is sick, he will take care of her.
The second one tells you that his wife is sick very often, and when she is sick, he takes care of her.
We don't use the simple present very often.
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Grammar GeekWe don't use the simple present very often.I don't understand what you mean, Barb. I use the simple present quite often myself. I think that statement needs a bit of clarification.
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Amy is right, of course.
We DO use simple present, but so many of your sentences "he helps his mother" "he fishes by the river" "he calls for help" "he sees the robber" are going to describe situations that would be better using other tenses, either continuous or past.
We DO use simple present, but so many of your sentences "he helps his mother" "he fishes by the river" "he calls for help" "he sees the robber" are going to describe situations that would be better using other tenses, either continuous or past.
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I thought that was what you getting at, Barb, and I agree with you completely.
Vincent Teo, it does seem that when you are focusing on whether a certain preposition or noun can be used, for example, you tend to ignore verb tense. So even if you have used other words appropriately, the verb tense often makes it extremely difficult to say "Yes" when you ask "Can I say...".
Vincent Teo, it does seem that when you are focusing on whether a certain preposition or noun can be used, for example, you tend to ignore verb tense. So even if you have used other words appropriately, the verb tense often makes it extremely difficult to say "Yes" when you ask "Can I say...".
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