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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Modals in conditional sentences

0Hi there02br
02br
00I've just read a helpful post on modals in conditionals, giving the following list:02br
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00If she has [present] time, she [can, could, (shall), should, will, may, might, must] go to the party. [not "would'] 02br
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00If she had [past] time, she [could, would, might] go to the party. [not "should"] 02br
02br
00My first question; why can't 'should' be used in the second conditional? Does it have to be replaced by something like 'it would be advisable'. And is the same true for 'must'?02br
02br
00Second: How about the third conditional? Which modals can be used there and how?02br
02br
02br
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00Thanks, 02br
00Eustacia02br
02br
02br
00 0-
  

Top answer

1blockquote 01cite 10Anonymous12cite 10If she had [past] time, she [could, would, might] go to the party. 12span 12br 12br 11span 10Second: How about the third conditional? 02br 00In third conditionals, you'll often see "could have", "might have", "should have", and so on, but the forms used in second conditionals are sometimes possible.

— Kooyeen

  • 1blockquote 01cite 10Anonymous12cite 10If she had [past] time, she [could, would, might] go to the party.
  • 12span 12br 12br 11span 10Second: How about the third conditional?
  • 02br 00In third conditionals, you'll often see "could have", "might have", "should have", and so on, but the forms used in second conditionals are sometimes possible.
  • It depends on the context.
  • You'll find more information if you search for post about conditionals here in EnglishForward, or in your grammar book, or in free grammars on the net.
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7 Answers
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1blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10If she had [past] time, she [could, would, might] go to the party. [not "should"]12blockquote
10Hi Eustacia,02br
00I see nothing wrong with "should" in conditional structures.01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite11span
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1i00She should go to the party02i00 says 02br
01i00In my opinion, the right thing for her to do is to go to the party02i00 or 02br
01i00It is advisable (in my opinion) for her to go to the party02i00.02br
00You cannot advise about the past. It's too late to say, after someone has already decided to do
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0 Ooops! I didn't even consider the specific example that was given! Sorry, I took it as a general statement, that "should" would no be used in second conditionals. It can be used.02br
00I am not sure what exactly you were asking about that example... If you wanted to know about "should" in the past, then Jim already answered. 050010id1
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10It ["should"] can be used. [ in second conditionals ] 12blockquote
10 I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but my brain is working slow on this one. Could you please provide an example? (I assume you mean 01i00should, 02i00not 01i00should have02i0
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0 Hmm, I'm not so sure now though! I mean, I think I was considering "should" as a kind of conditional version of "must". And after thinking about it again, I'm afraid I would only use "would have to". I was thinking of examples like this:02br
02br
01i01b00If there was no more oil available in the world, we should use some other kind of energy source.02b
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10use "would have to", which sounds much better to me.12blockquote
10 To me, too.01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10Is that "should" odd or not?12blockquote
10 It is.02br
00I was thinking you would come up with something
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1blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite11i10If she took the wallet, she should return it.12i12br
10But in that case the two clauses are purposely in two different times.12br
12blockquote
10Yep, that's not hypothetical. I can't think of any other cases where it would be good. I'd better only use "would have
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