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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Would usage in this particular case

If situation looks like this, imagine a person who is trying to break his table, and another person saying:

- If you trying to get rid of your table it would be easier to throw it away.

So the question is: is the person expressing his opinion by "would"?

Because as far as i know, you can't mix 1st and 2nd conditionals.

Am I right? Could anyone help me?
  

Top answer

- If you are trying to get rid of your table , it would be easier to throw it away. So the question is: is the person expressing his opinion by "would"? I would say so.

— AlpheccaStars

  • - If you are trying to get rid of your table , it would be easier to throw it away.
  • So the question is: is the person expressing his opinion by "would"?
  • I would say so.
  • I would describe it as a zero conditional, where the main clause is stated in a toned-down, polite way.
  • - If (When) you are trying to get rid of your table , it is easier to throw it away.
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2 Answers
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- If you are trying to get rid of your table, it would be easier to throw it away.

So the question is: is the person expressing his opinion by "would"? I would say so.

I would describe it as a zero conditional, where the main clause is stated in a toned-down, polite way.

- If (When)
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Anonymousas far as i know, you can't mix 1st and 2nd conditionals.
This is one of those tricky cases where 'if' doesn't mean 'if' so it's debatable whether this kind of sentence is even governed by the rules for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conditionals.
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