Which tense are sentences like:
- "When people do make changes good things happen"
- "Even if monkeys can play an important role, their actions can pose risk to the general public"
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1 Answer
Those sentences are both zero-conditional sentences.
The first sentence has an emphatic do thrown in.
The second sentence uses the modal verb can to express possibility.
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@EdwinAshworth Exactly. The formulation is the same. You can substitute when for if or vice-versa, it just changes the "intensity" (for lack of a better word) of the conditional statement.– Nick2253Commented Dec 11, 2014 at 19:05
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So I guess based on the link you have provided the tense is present simple?– IzhakiCommented Dec 11, 2014 at 19:19
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There seems to be a lack of consensus about terminology.'[The term zero-conditional] is known almost exclusively to teachers and learners of English as a second or foreign language.' – Barrie England Sep 12 '13 Commented Dec 11, 2014 at 23:43