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Emmanuell Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Unless

Hello guys! I have to tell you that in my last class the teacher was explaining Conditionals 1, 2 and 3. And suddenly 'unless' appeared! Well, I knew it. But the explanation left me a little confused. And I want to know if what he said is correct.

He give these sentences:

1. They don't know if they'll like the dress. They want to buy it.

2. We can't speak English, so we can't apply for the job.

3. Music that is too loud hurts your ears.

4. There is work to do. I can't go out.

And then he made them using the 'unless'.

1. Unless they like the dress, they won't buy it. [he chose the first conditional]

2. Unless we spoke English, we wouldn't be able to apply for the job. [he chose the second conditional]

3. Unless music was too loud, it wouldn't hurt your ears. [he chose the second conditional]

4. Unless there was work to do, I would be able to go out. [he chose the second conditional]

Well, I have to say that he doesn't have the best way to explain clearly. So, here I go. Tomorrow I have a test about this and I can't understand at all.

Also, I see that sometimes he uses the 'were' in second conditional, and sometimes he uses 'was'.

But as I know, the correct way is for example:

1. If I were you, I'd do it. +

2. If I wasn't tired, I wouldn't go to bed. X

Well, I hope you can help me with this.

Thanks in advance!

Emmanuel
  

Top answer

not" I must say that I customarily place the unless clause after the main clause. The conditionals with "unless" are a bit tricky. You should have a good grasp on the conditionals constructed with "if," and realize that not all if-conditionals can be directly converted to unless-conditionals.

  • not" I must say that I customarily place the unless clause after the main clause.
  • The conditionals with "unless" are a bit tricky.
  • You should have a good grasp on the conditionals constructed with "if," and realize that not all if-conditionals can be directly converted to unless-conditionals.
  • Here are some examples.
  • Consider these sentences and the positive (+) or negative (-) character of each clause.
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3 Answers
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Hi Emmanuel;

Just think of "unless" as meaning "if...not"

I must say that I customarily place the unless clause after the main clause.

The conditionals with "unless" are a bit tricky. You should have a good grasp on the conditionals constructed with "if," and realize that not all if-conditionals can be directly converted to unless-conditionals. Here are some examples.
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Oh I see... but I still have a doubt. Teacher said thet we can't put 'Unles I weren't you', because we would be using two negative words 'Unless = if not' and 'weren't = were not'...so I can't understand what is the real meaning in these two examples:

1. If I weren't smart, I wouldn't do it in the right way.

2. Unless I weren't smart, I would do it in the right way.

Or i
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You are correct about unless and negatives.

In your example, #2 does not sound right.

However the following are OK. The if-condition is not a hypothetical situation, but a truth statement (zero conditional). It is not describing a future condition, but kind of a general eternal rule. We can state it either as a negative or positive condition. (Unless = except if)

I can't

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