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New2grammar Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

tense

On a bright sunny day, which would you use:

If it rains, we will have to cancel the barbeque.

If it rained, we would have to cancel the barbeque.
Thanks
  

Top answer

Whether it's sunny or not has nothing to do with it. Use the first one. On the face of it, there's no reason to believe that this is a case involving a hypothetical situation -- or rather a situation that requires an "unreal" condition.

— CalifJim

  • Whether it's sunny or not has nothing to do with it.
  • Use the first one.
  • On the face of it, there's no reason to believe that this is a case involving a hypothetical situation -- or rather a situation that requires an "unreal" condition.
  • It's just a single sentence.
  • You need a more elaborate context to provide a motivation for the use of If it rained, ....
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4 Answers
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Whether it's sunny or not has nothing to do with it.
Use the first one. On the face of it, there's no reason to believe that this is a case involving a hypothetical situation -- or rather a situation that requires an "unreal" condition. It's just a single sentence.

You need a more elaborate context to provide a motivation for the use of If it rained, .... Off hand, I can't t
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CJ, I thought a sunny day implied non-cloudy and therefore, the possibility of raining was very slim which justifies the type 2 conditional.

Conditionals are so confusing.
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New2grammarthe possibility of raining was very slim
The way I see it, it's not the lessened probability (of rain, or of whatever) that makes the difference needed to trigger the use of the second conditional pattern. It's the mental movement into an envisioned world, often called an "unreal" world. I realize that that's almost no help. You're right that con
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CJ, Whenever you are ready, I'm waiting for your answer Emotion: smile
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