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Editor: Douglas Adams |
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Present Unreal Conditionals At this point it's also worth mentioning a few other issues that can arise with present unreal conditionals.
It may seem obvious to us that changing the modal in the independent clause will change the meaning of the sentence, but I have found it worth the extra few minutes to point this fact out to the students in my class. Thus... If Tom won the lottery, he might buy a huge McBurger restaurant. ...has a different meaning from... If Tom won the lottery, he should buy a huge McBurger restaurant. Was vs. Were In present unreal sentences containing the be verb, we encounter a situation that does not follow the normal rules of subject-verb agreement. Regardless of the subject, we always use were rather than was. This a hold over from a time when the English language did not have the word was in it. Or in other words, there was no was. Since this rule prohibiting the use of was is a remnant of the language from a very long time ago, most native speakers disregard it. However, it is still found on standardized tests like the TOEFL. Therefore, in the following example... If Tom were a smarter person, he would have his own restaurant. ...would be correct for TOEFL English while... If Tom was a smarter person, he would have his own restaurant. ...would be normal for street English. What to do about would, could, and should The formula for a present unreal conditional calls for a simple past or past continuous verb in the dependent clause, not a modal. however in some regions of the U.S. (especially the south) it is common to hear sentences like the following... If Tom would just study more, he would get better grades. So, while this may not be TOEFL correct, students may encounter it on the street. Would also appears in another variation of the present unreal conditional - with the word like. If you would like another burger, you can/could have one. ...or... If he would like another burger, I could/can make one for him. The subject of the dependent clause doesn't really matter. The important thing is the use of the verb like or one of its synonyms such as prefer. There is another case where a modal can appear in the dependent clause, and that is with the word "could" as can be seen in the following example. If he could buy a burger restaurant, he would buy one. Some grammar books call this the past real though this name seems a bit confusing since there is nothing past or real about it. A final case where the dependent clause might have a modal appears with the word should and can be seen in the following example. Tom is on the roof of McBurger eating his lunch. If he should fall off, he would break his neck. Notice how the word should doe not mean advice, but rather is used to express a possibility. Up Next... Past Unreal Conditionals |
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