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Lisadove Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Unreal conditionals: was/were + infinitive
Hi.
I'm teaching English using a textbook that doesn't give detailed explanations or rules for grammar. I'm a well-educated native speaker, but I haven't studied Teaching English. I don't have a good, solid reference book and I doubt I can find one here. I understand "backshifting", but the book has now thrown in this structure without any explanation:
If you were to put that money into a savings account, you would be less likely to spend it.
Can you give me a rule or explanation for when this structure is used? I mean, I have no trouble with the usage, but I don't know how to explain it to my students.
BTW, the book does have some interesting exercises for analyzing unreal conditionals:
If Dave were here, he'd help us. (Is Dave here? Is he going to help us?)
If we hadn't gotten stuck in traffic, we wouldn't have missed the flight. (Did we get stuck in traffic? Did we miss the flight?)
I'm teaching English using a textbook that doesn't give detailed explanations or rules for grammar. I'm a well-educated native speaker, but I haven't studied Teaching English. I don't have a good, solid reference book and I doubt I can find one here. I understand "backshifting", but the book has now thrown in this structure without any explanation:
If you were to put that money into a savings account, you would be less likely to spend it.
Can you give me a rule or explanation for when this structure is used? I mean, I have no trouble with the usage, but I don't know how to explain it to my students.
BTW, the book does have some interesting exercises for analyzing unreal conditionals:
If Dave were here, he'd help us. (Is Dave here? Is he going to help us?)
If we hadn't gotten stuck in traffic, we wouldn't have missed the flight. (Did we get stuck in traffic? Did we miss the flight?)
Top answer
com ships anywhere. Pick up a copy of Michael Swan's Practical English Usage . Used copies are also abundant at Abebooks.
- com ships anywhere.
- Pick up a copy of Michael Swan's Practical English Usage .
- Used copies are also abundant at Abebooks.
- To be to + infinitive is a form used to express a strong plan, a command, etc: I am to meet the Queen tomorrow!
- Cast into the past, it can be used as a hypothetical for the Second Conditional: If I were to meet the Queen, I would probably faint ..
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9 Answers
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I believe that Amazon.com ships anywhere. Pick up a copy of Michael Swan's Practical English Usage. Used copies are also abundant at Abebooks.
To be to + infinitive is a form used to express a strong plan, a command, etc: I am to meet the Queen tomorrow!
Cast into the past, it can be used as a hypothetical for the Second Conditional: If I were to mee
I believe that Amazon.com ships anywhere. Pick up a copy of Michael Swan's Practical English Usage. Used copies are also abundant at Abebooks.
To be to + infinitive is a form used to express a strong plan, a command, etc: I am to meet the Queen tomorrow!
Cast into the past, it can be used as a hypothetical for the Second Conditional: If I were to mee
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lisadove If you were to put that money into a savings account, you would be less likely to spend it.Explain and practice the basic pattern first:
Can you give me a rule or explanation for when this structure is used? I mean, I have no trouble with the usage, but I don't know how to explain it to my students.
If [past], ... would ...
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lisadoveI'm teaching EnglishWhat is the mother tongue of your students?
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Thank you! It's beginning to make sense now, but as for why you would use this more complex structure.... A colleague at work hypothesized that the were + infinitive form might be used in a more "possible" unreal situation.... It also sounds more like a suggestion. And it seems to clarify whether "If he took the other road" is past (If he took the other road, he's probably alread
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lisadoveA colleague at work hypothesized that the were + infinitive form might be used in a more "possible" unreal situation.Hmmm. I think that might be splitting hairs a bit more than your students are capable of at this point in their studies. It certainly splits them more than I would like to!
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Well for Spanish speakers this doesn't need any explaining. The "were" form in the if clause is equivalent to the past subjunctive in Spanish. Every Spanish speaker understands this difference.
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HuevosWell for Spanish speakers this doesn't need any explaining.The past subjunctive is seldom used in Salvadoran Spanish and, as I said before, it's explaining why and under what circumstances it is used that is difficult.
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lisadoveThe past subjunctive is seldom used in Salvadoran SpanishSince no other form of the subjunctive can be used in an if clause in Spanish, how do people in El Salvador hypothesize? Or maybe they don't, which, if true, means you won't need to bother to teach them how to hypothesize in English either.
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