unless

Question

'Unless' is not used with the unreal conditionals, except if the main clause is negative. This is what I know about the use of unless.
So the conclusion is naturally drawn about which tense is possible in unless-clause; that is present tense.
However, the following site suggests the other two tenses can also be used. (http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/if_conditional9.php)
So, I suspect that 'unless' might be used to express hypothetical meaning. If not, how can it be explained?

In particular, how do you paraphrase them below?
a. I wouldn't eat that food unless I was really hungry.

b. They would have shot her unless she'd given them the
money.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

cho7712So the conclusion is naturally drawn about which tense is possible in unless-clause; that is present tense.

"Like if, it is followed by a present tense, a past tense or a past perfect"

Those words are from the site you
linked us to.

cho7712a. I wouldn't eat that food unless I was really hungry. b. They would have shot her unless she'd given them the money.

The first is fine, though some would prefer 'were' to 'was'

The second is not natural. We could say "They threatened to shoot her if she didn't/wouldn't give them the money" or "They would have shot her if she hadn't given them the money".

Cho7712 · Answer

Thank you for the answer.

GPY · Answer

cho7712'Unless' is not used with the unreal conditionals, except if the main clause is negative.

Could you give an example of that exception? I can't quite visualise what you are referring to.

Cho7712 · Answer

The example sentence quoted from advanced grammar in use is,
She wouldn't have gone to university unless her parents had insisted.

GPY · Answer

cho7712She wouldn't have gone to university unless her parents had insisted.

I find this sentence rather unsatisfactory. Better in my opinion, to say "She wouldn't have gone to university if her parents hadn't insisted."

Cho7712 · Answer

What difference would you suggest by which you'd rather choose if...not version?
And if using 'unless' in unreal conditionals is rare,
what effect would natives want to produce on the people or situation by using unless in unreal conditionals?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

cho7712What difference would you suggest by which you'd rather choose if...not version?And if using 'unless' in unreal conditionals is rare, what effect would natives want to produce on the people or situation by using unless in unreal conditionals?

When I see "unless" in an unreal conditional (as in your example), I sometimes have to read the sentence a couple of times to get my head around it. The if-clause is usually so much more straightforward, that I don't even think about using "unless" in these cases.

Cho7712 · Answer

Thank you for the answer. It is so complicating issue of English grammar, I think.
I just have one question. Is the sentence below correct? If correct, what is this best categorized -as real or unreal conditionals?
ex. She would die unless the doctor saved her.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

cho7712 Thank you for the answer. It is so complicating issue of English grammar, I think.

It's not so much obfuscating grammar as it is convoluted logic.

GPY · Answer

cho7712What difference would you suggest by which you'd rather choose if...not version?And if using 'unless' in unreal conditionals is rare, what effect would natives want to produce on the people or situation by using unless in unreal conditionals?

I think, again, at least part of the problem is that the absence of the "unless" event is normally perceived as the default or non-exceptional case. In "She wouldn't have gone to university unless her parents had insisted", her not going to university is therefore expected to be the default or prevailing state, and yet this is contrary to what the sentence as a whole implies happened, which is that she did go to university.

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"Like if, it is followed by a present tense, a past tense or a past perfect"

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