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Waterhouse Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
The speaker's attitude in different conditionals..
Hi all! I have a question about the conditionals.
I heard that it depends on a speaker's attitude whether to use the first conditional or the second conditional.
Take a look at these sentences.
If we can have a child, we will be happy.
If the volcano exploded, I would run away.
If we could have a child, we would be happy.
If the volcano explodes, I will run away.
In my guess, the first two sentence seems optimistic, and the others pessimistic.. Am I right?
Please tell me the speaker's different attitude shown depending on each conditional, with some examples. :-)
I heard that it depends on a speaker's attitude whether to use the first conditional or the second conditional.
Take a look at these sentences.
If we can have a child, we will be happy.
If the volcano exploded, I would run away.
If we could have a child, we would be happy.
If the volcano explodes, I will run away.
In my guess, the first two sentence seems optimistic, and the others pessimistic.. Am I right?
Please tell me the speaker's different attitude shown depending on each conditional, with some examples. :-)
Top answer
Hi Waterhouse Whether a speaker uses the first conditional or the second conditional basically depends on how likely the speaker thinks the fulfillment of the condition is. If we can have a child, we will be happy. e.
- Hi Waterhouse Whether a speaker uses the first conditional or the second conditional basically depends on how likely the speaker thinks the fulfillment of the condition is.
- If we can have a child, we will be happy.
- e.
- having a child) are good.
- If we could have a child, we would be happy.
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2 Answers
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Hi Waterhouse
Whether a speaker uses the first conditional or the second conditional basically depends on how likely the speaker thinks the fulfillment of the condition is.
If we can have a child, we will be happy. --> The speaker has reason to believe that the chances of the condition bein
Whether a speaker uses the first conditional or the second conditional basically depends on how likely the speaker thinks the fulfillment of the condition is.
If we can have a child, we will be happy. --> The speaker has reason to believe that the chances of the condition bein
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Hi,
I have a question about the conditionals.
I heard that it depends on a speaker's attitude whether to use the first conditional or the second conditional.
Take a look at these sentences.
If we can have a child, we will be happy. It's possible, maybe even likely, that we can have a child.
If the volcano exploded, I would run away. It's impossible or unlikely
I have a question about the conditionals.
I heard that it depends on a speaker's attitude whether to use the first conditional or the second conditional.
Take a look at these sentences.
If we can have a child, we will be happy. It's possible, maybe even likely, that we can have a child.
If the volcano exploded, I would run away. It's impossible or unlikely
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