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"If you should find that book, could you keep it for me?"

Such a sentence could be said to contain a first conditional (hypothetical but probable)

"If, by any chance, you find that book, can (or 'could', for the sake of politeness) you keep it for me?"

or a second conditional (purely hypothetical)

"If, by any chance, you found that book, could (here, 'can' would not work) you keep it for me?"

Which is more likely?

The example sentences I found in different dictionaries all contained 'If, by any chance' followed by a verb in the present, so first conditional. But I could not find a rule which said it had to be so…

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  • "if by any chance someone did X" is Past Tense, so if you wanted a "subjunctive should" equivalent, that would be "If someone should have done X".
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 1 at 19:23

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"If you should find that book, could you keep it for me?" refers to the future. So it can only mean "If, by any chance, you find that book, could you keep it for me?"

As for "hypothetical but probable", Swan in Practical English Usage would disagree. He states on page 261:

We can suggest that something is unlikely, or not particularly probable, by using should... in the if-clause:

  • If you should run into Peter, tell him he owes me a letter.

In general, it's not especially helpful to try and fit all sentences with if-clauses into one of the three or four numbered conditionals.

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  • So, the person saying this finds it likely that their listener will run into Peter, otherwise why bother saying this… The tricky element in the initial sentence is 'could', equivalent to 'would you be able to', which can be a politer form for 'will you be able to', or a 'real' conditional, describing the second of two entirely hypothetical action.
    – user58319
    Commented Feb 1 at 12:01
  • @user58319: That's not what the answer says; read it more carefully. When you say if you should, you're implying that it is not very likely.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Feb 1 at 12:39
  • @user58319. I'm not sure I understand your comment. Could you please point to the part of my answer that you are referring to? As an aside, note that in the sentence "If you should have found that book, could you keep it for me?" the speaker is referring to a past possibility.
    – Shoe
    Commented Feb 1 at 13:01
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The more appropriate phrase would be "if by any chance someone does".

Notice the wording in the phrase "If someone should do", where the word "do" is in present tense. It suggests a hypothetical situation or scenario where such an action occur. Therefore, a phrase synonymous to that would be a phrase that is expressed in the present tense as well.

It is important to realize that the phrase "if by any chance someone did" is in the past tense and presents a slight difference. In this context, it suggests a hypothetical situation or scenario where such an action has occurred. Despite this, it does not present any differences in meaning from the first phrase. Both phrases are suggesting the same hypothetical scenario with one in present tense, and one in past tense.

Although both phrases are grammatically correct and can be used as substitutes for the phrase "If someone should do", the former phrase is more suitable.

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