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Starstuff Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
Your opinions on conditionals usage
0 I was reading some grammar guides on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd conditional, and here's what the guides say in general: 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 first conditional 02 b 00 : 01 i 00 real situations 02 i 00 in the 01 i 00 present or in the future. 02 i 02 br
00 ie: If I sleep too much, I'll get a headache. 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 second conditional 02 b 00 : 01 i 00 unreal situations 02 i 00 in the 01 i 00 present or in the future. 02 br
02 i 00 ie: If I slept too much, I would get a headache. 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 third conditional 02 b 00 : 01 i 00 unreal situations 02 i 00 in the 01 i 00 past. 02 i 02 br
00 ie: If I had slept too much, I would've gotten a headache. 02 br
02 br
00 I'm just wondering why can't "if I slept too much" simply assume events in the past, so we won't need 3rd con. anymore? Thanks. 0-
02 br
01 b 00 first conditional 02 b 00 : 01 i 00 real situations 02 i 00 in the 01 i 00 present or in the future. 02 i 02 br
00 ie: If I sleep too much, I'll get a headache. 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 second conditional 02 b 00 : 01 i 00 unreal situations 02 i 00 in the 01 i 00 present or in the future. 02 br
02 i 00 ie: If I slept too much, I would get a headache. 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 third conditional 02 b 00 : 01 i 00 unreal situations 02 i 00 in the 01 i 00 past. 02 i 02 br
00 ie: If I had slept too much, I would've gotten a headache. 02 br
02 br
00 I'm just wondering why can't "if I slept too much" simply assume events in the past, so we won't need 3rd con. anymore? Thanks. 0-
Top answer
0 The third conditional is contrafactual. It says 01 i 00 If I had slept too much (AND I didn't sleep too much), I would have gotten a headache (BUT I didn't get a headache) 02 i 00 . So you can't get rid of the third conditional by reassigning its meaning to the second conditional.
- 0 The third conditional is contrafactual.
- It says 01 i 00 If I had slept too much (AND I didn't sleep too much), I would have gotten a headache (BUT I didn't get a headache) 02 i 00 .
- So you can't get rid of the third conditional by reassigning its meaning to the second conditional.
- Besides, no one person invents what words and expressions mean, so if you wanted to change what the second conditional meant, you'd be the only one using it in your new way, and nobody else would understand what you were saying!
- 05 0 02 br 02 br 00 CJ 010id 1
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2 Answers
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0 The third conditional is contrafactual. It says 01 i 00 If I had slept too much (AND I didn't sleep too much), I would have gotten a headache (BUT I didn't get a headache) 02 i 00 . So you can't get rid of the third conditional by reassigning its meaning to the second conditional. Besides, no one person invents what words and expressions mean, so if you wanted to change w
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