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Everlastinghope Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
The second conditional
Regarding conditional type 2.The structure is the following : If+simple past,would+stem.I think as it is explained by Michael Swan" It's used to talk about unreal or improbable present and future situations".
Example:
1- If I had money,I would travel = I don't have money.
2- If I saw Peter,I would say hello = I won't see him.
What about these two sentences ?:
1- If you worked hard,you would succeed.
2- If you didn't work,you wouldn't succeed.
Example:
1- If I had money,I would travel = I don't have money.
2- If I saw Peter,I would say hello = I won't see him.
What about these two sentences ?:
1- If you worked hard,you would succeed.
2- If you didn't work,you wouldn't succeed.
Top answer
If you worked hard, you would succeed. OK. The 'would' is stressed in speech.
- If you worked hard, you would succeed.
- OK.
- The 'would' is stressed in speech.
- Said to someone who is not being successful, say, in passing exams.
- 2- If you didn't work, you couldn't succeed.
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2 Answers
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If you worked hard, you would succeed. OK.
The 'would' is stressed in speech. Said to someone who is not being successful, say, in passing exams.
2- If you didn't work, you couldn't succeed.
compare:
If you work hard, you will succeed.
If you had worked hard, you would have succeeded.
but in 2. it must be 'couldn't' not 'wouldn't' :
The 'would' is stressed in speech. Said to someone who is not being successful, say, in passing exams.
2- If you didn't work, you couldn't succeed.
compare:
If you work hard, you will succeed.
If you had worked hard, you would have succeeded.
but in 2. it must be 'couldn't' not 'wouldn't' :
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To clarify a little further:
"If you didn't work hard..." : if I accept this as a fact, namely, you didn't work hard, hence, Past Tense, fait accompli
then...........you can't introduce a conditional tense! because we are talking about a fact, not something that is still up in the air, undecided, - he didn't work hard, so we are talking about a result of this - you
"If you didn't work hard..." : if I accept this as a fact, namely, you didn't work hard, hence, Past Tense, fait accompli
then...........you can't introduce a conditional tense! because we are talking about a fact, not something that is still up in the air, undecided, - he didn't work hard, so we are talking about a result of this - you
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