Timeline for Missing conditionals
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
22 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 22, 2021 at 3:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackEnglish/status/1473488700415827973 | ||
| Dec 15, 2021 at 15:33 | vote | accept | IlyaTretyakov | ||
| Dec 15, 2021 at 6:27 | answer | added | shumble | timeline score: 3 | |
| Dec 15, 2021 at 2:58 | comment | added | Tinfoil Hat | @tchrist: I'm not exactly sure what the question was, so I didn't know I was answering it. | |
| Dec 15, 2021 at 2:26 | answer | added | aparente001 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Dec 15, 2021 at 2:10 | history | edited | aparente001 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
numbering
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| Dec 14, 2021 at 21:43 | comment | added | IlyaTretyakov | Thank you very much! I appreciate your help. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 21:32 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | @TinfoilHat Let's please stop answering in comments, ok? I'm absolutely positive that this entire matter is completely and even authoritatively answered here. Feel free to crib, but please put it in an answer not a comment. The TLDR is of course that "numbered conditionals" are pure poppycock unrelated to native-speaker use, poppycock that’s actually dangerous for someone who’s as competent an English-language learner as our translating asker clearly is. Also see this answer. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 21:25 | comment | added | Tinfoil Hat | These are all valid: Factual/present: If [when] she does her homework, she gets dessert. Factual/past: When she was a child, if [when] she did her homework, she got dessert. Predictive/present: If she finishes her homework today, she will get dessert tonight. Predictive/past: If she finished her homework yesterday, she will get dessert tonight. Predictive/present: If he is with her now, I will kill him when I see him. Predictive/past: If he was with her yesterday, I will kill him when I see him. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 21:24 | comment | added | Tinfoil Hat | If he was with her that night we went away, I will definitely kill him when I see him again is perfectly good grammar. Don’t get too hung up on the categories; they’re meant for English language learners, and their attendant simple examples reflect that. It’s not how we are taught the conditional, if we’re taught it at all. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 19:23 | comment | added | IlyaTretyakov | As I've already said I know that Second and Third conditionals tell us about something which is not true. I'm talking about something different. A real possibility in the past (something that may or may not have happened) and its possible past OR present OR future result. Example which I tried to translate from Dostoevsky's novel: If he was with her that night we went away, I will definitely kill him when I see him again.” Is this translation grammatically correct? Even though it doesn't fit to any of typical conditionals (0,1,2,3,mixed) | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 19:00 | comment | added | Tinfoil Hat | Your problem is this: "We know what really happens." That's not how the subjunctive is characterized. You need to reframe your thinking: We use the subjunctive for counterfactual conditions. If I won a lottery [but, in fact, I have not won the lottery], I would give half the money to charity. Your three examples after "Can you see what is missing?" do not display the subjunctive mood. To summarize, the difference between the subjunctive and the other conditionals is not "what we know" — it's whether the condition clause is counterfactual. That's it. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 16:33 | review | Close votes | |||
| Dec 16, 2021 at 16:52 | |||||
| Dec 14, 2021 at 12:55 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | 'We know what really happens. (Unreal) If I were rich, I would buy a mansion.' I'd say 'If I broke my leg today, I wouldn't be playing for Chelsea tomorrow' fulfils the 'we know what really happens' requirement more validly. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 10:14 | comment | added | IlyaTretyakov | This question has been bothering me since I started learning English. I would really appreciate any help on this. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 9:47 | comment | added | Mari-Lou A | The first comment is by a bot. Ignore it. I can think of only 3 or 4 users who would be able to answer your question adequately (I wish I could). Be patient they are all in different time zones. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 9:46 | comment | added | Stuart F | You can explicitly indicate what you know or don't know using other methods, and use the existing types of conditional. Clauses starting "assuming" and "it's possible", or using adverbials such as "hypothetically" or "possibly" are often used too. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 9:18 | comment | added | IlyaTretyakov | I really can't make it shorter. What I can do is set only one question. The question is: Can we use the ''missing'' types of conditionals? | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 9:08 | comment | added | Mari-Lou A | It's a really long question only because you made a valiant attempt to explain your dilemma in detail. The 4 questions at the end are related to each other, so they are not an issue. However, I would suggest condensing the question. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 9:06 | comment | added | CommunityBot | Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. | |
| S Dec 14, 2021 at 9:01 | review | First questions | |||
| Dec 14, 2021 at 9:06 | |||||
| S Dec 14, 2021 at 9:01 | history | asked | IlyaTretyakov | CC BY-SA 4.0 |