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Believer Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Present Unreal Conditional

0Hi,02br
02br
00i have some questions on the subject of present unreal conditionals and hope you would be able to help me.02br
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001. I would play chess more if I didn't listen to pop music so much.02br
02br
00If the sentence had the word 'had' in the 'if' clause, then I would have considered it a second conditional talking about what 'I' would do presently in the unreal situation like my two example sentences below. For the kind of sentence above with the 'did' in the 'if' clause, I feel it looks to be a sentence that talks about what would happen if something did or did not happen with no sense of unreality.02br
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002. I would play chess more if I hadn't gone to a trip last week -- I think this is a mixed conditional talking about what 'I' would be doing now if I didn't take a trip last week.02br
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003. I would play chess more if I had more time. -- I think this is a typical second conditional. 02br
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00Sorry, but I have one more question: For the type of no. 3, sometimes, it is hard for me to distinguish if the same sentence is taking about a present unreal conditional or a future unreal conditional when the modal 'would' is in the main clause. 0-
  

Top answer

1i 001. I 01b 00would play02b 00 chess more if I 01b 00didn't listen02b 00 to pop music so much. 02font 02br 02br 01i 003.

— Marius Hancu

  • 1i 001.
  • I 01b 00would play02b 00 chess more if I 01b 00didn't listen02b 00 to pop music so much.
  • 02font 02br 02br 01i 003.
  • 02i 02br 01i 00She 01b 00would travel02b 00 around the world if she 01b 00had02b 00 more money.
  • 02i 02br 02br 002.
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7 Answers
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1i001. I 01b00would play02b00 chess more if I 01b00didn't listen02b00 to pop music so much. 02i01font00But I 01b00listen02b00 a lot ...02font02br
02br
01i003. I 01b00would play02b00 chess more if I 01b00had 02
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Believer12cite10 I would play chess more if I didn't listen to pop music so much.12blockquote
11blockquote
01cite10Believer12cite10For the kind of sentence above with the 'did' in the 'if' clause, I feel it looks to be a sentence that talks about what would happen if
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0Hi Believer02br
00Maybe making the wording more specific will also help you understand.02br
00Let's say that the following sentences describe your habits factually (i.e. the sentences tell you what is "real"):02br
001. I play chess one hour a day. 02br
002. I listen to pop music four hours a day. 02br
00If the sentences above are "re
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0Thank you, Marius, Yankee and CalifJim02br
02br
00Please tell why MrPedantic said what he said in this response post of his for a threat named 'Type 2 and type 3 of "If clause"' in regard to no. 1 sentence and does it exhibit any relevance to my line of inquiry.02br
02br
00MrPedantic wrote:02br
02br
001. It would be nicer, if you did X
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0>01i001. It would be nicer, if you did X.02i02br
00This is 01b00Present02b00 Unreal Conditional02br
05002br
01i00It would have been nicer, if you had done X.02i02br
00This is 01b00Past02b00 Unreal Conditional02br
05100] 02br
00MrP's com
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0Hi Marius, 02br
02br
00How could say MrP's comment is good when what he said is this?02br
02br
00#1 is open: it relates to a course of action that the speaker thinks desirable, at any time.02br
02br
00It looks like he is talking about a generic conditional sentence where no hypothical is involved.02br
02br
00Thank y
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0I'm not sure you understood MrP's definitions for 01b00open/closed02b00. 0-
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