Ok, the condition type 1 predicts a possible future event:
If this thing happens, that thing will happen.
The condition type 1 expresses a counterfactual situation with a present or future time frame:
If this thing happened, that thing would happen (but I'm not sure this thing will happen) OR that thing would be happening.
Ok, now if you say:
If I marry Mary, I will be happy
If I married Mary, I would be happy
In the first sentence, you are quite confident that if you marry Mary then you will have a happy life. Maybe you think that Mary is a very good girl, etc. But in the 2nd question, you are not sure that will happen, right?
I am a bit confused, because it seems that you choose to say the 1st or 2nd question based on what you think in your head. If you think you could marry Mary in the future, then use the 1st one, and if you think you could not marry Mary in the future, then use the 2nd one: is that right?
So, is it all depending on your thinking? If you think it is possible then use the condition type 1 & if you think it is impossible then use the condition type 2?
Ok, see other examples:
If I have a spacecraft, I will fly to the moon
If I had a spacecraft, I would fly to the moon
Ok, I think it is up to you to say the 1st or 2nd sentence. If you say the 1st one, then you think it could happen.
For example, maybe a few years later you have enough money to make a spacecraft and fly to the moon. But if you think that there is no way you can make enough money to buy a spacecraft to fly to the moon, then you can use the 2nd option right?
So does choosing type 1 or 2 depend on what we think? Or are we forced to use only 1 structure, meaning that type 1 or 2 is not governed by what we think?
