0
Old Eladio Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
The strange case of the hidden conditional.
Conditionals are usually classified by English Grammar (www.englishpage.com or English Grammar in Use, Cambridge, 2000, for example) as Zero, First, Second and Third. Say:
(Zero): If I have time, I study English.
(First): If I have time, I will study English.
(Second): If I had time, I would study English.
(Third): If I had had time, I would have studied English.
Doubt #1: Could you tell me why the following structure is not classified?
If I had time, I studied English. (Sometimes I had time) (Maybe this is Zero in past?)
Doubt #2 Is “If I had time, I would study English” a Future Unreal Conditional or a Present Unreal Condition?
Please, could you help me not to go to the psychiatrist?
And thank you in advance,
Eladio
(Zero): If I have time, I study English.
(First): If I have time, I will study English.
(Second): If I had time, I would study English.
(Third): If I had had time, I would have studied English.
Doubt #1: Could you tell me why the following structure is not classified?
If I had time, I studied English. (Sometimes I had time) (Maybe this is Zero in past?)
Doubt #2 Is “If I had time, I would study English” a Future Unreal Conditional or a Present Unreal Condition?
Please, could you help me not to go to the psychiatrist?
And thank you in advance,
Eladio
Top answer
deleted. CJ has read this better.
- deleted.
- CJ has read this better.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
4 Answers
0
0
Zero in the past, yes! The "zeros" are just like the same sentences with "when":
When I have time, I study English. When I had time, I studied English.
Your second example is confusing me. It is the same as the one you label Second. Are you claiming it is yet another form of conditional?
At any rate, don't get too hung up about future vs. present. In a
When I have time, I study English. When I had time, I studied English.
Your second example is confusing me. It is the same as the one you label Second. Are you claiming it is yet another form of conditional?
At any rate, don't get too hung up about future vs. present. In a
00
Thanks a lot CJ. I thoght that "that hidden conditional" was a zero in the past, but I was not sure at all.
You wrote: In a way, English only has two tenses: Past and Non-Past. How about calling this an Unreal Non-Past situation? Do you know what, after this pronouncement, I'll go to the psychiatrist as fast as I can!
It's just a joke. Think
You wrote: In a way, English only has two tenses: Past and Non-Past. How about calling this an Unreal Non-Past situation? Do you know what, after this pronouncement, I'll go to the psychiatrist as fast as I can!
It's just a joke. Think
00
Actually this division into two tenses (Past and Non-past) is not at all unconventional. Many linguists and writers on language have observed of English (especially since we use the present to express the future so often, and since we cannot express the future with a grammatical ending, but must use the modal "will") that it really has no future*. ([
0
Related Questions