Questions tagged [reversed-conditional]
A reversed conditional is one where the consequent (apodosis) comes before the condition (protasis), as with “It must be Sunday if the bells are ringing”, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, “I won’t go unless she does”, “The fox would have eaten it herself had it been a fresh kill”, “He would have stayed home were there any alternative”.
13
questions
0
votes
1
answer
59
views
How to use "Seemed like (something) had not (something)"
I found the following sentence in Marguerite de Valois by Alexandre Dumas
His body seemed like that of a corpse had not a light breath stirred
the fringe of foam on the lips.
It looks like a ...
0
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Fourth type of conditional (past and possible)?
I learn that there are 3 types of conditional sentences:
Type 1 (present and possible): If I have money (and it's possible one
day), I will donate.
Type 2 (present and impossible): If I had money
...
- 111
3
votes
2
answers
5k
views
What does “would not have been possible had I remained” mean?
What does this mean?
I am sure this would not have been possible had I remained a typical Anglophone North American.
I have never heard that before and I really find it strange.
I deduce that it ...
- 153
0
votes
1
answer
289
views
Wondering if this mixed conditional is correct or not ( taken from Euronews )
Earlier on his arrival in Warsaw the president had met US and Polish air personnel from a detachment of F-16 fighter jets. Obama also stressed that more sanctions were being prepared against Russia if ...
- 195
1
vote
1
answer
740
views
Reported speech, question in a conditional sentence
I've been struggling with this exercise:
"Let's drive on to the next village and try the hotel there," he said. "But what'll we do if that's full too?" I said. "We'll just have to sleep in the car," ...
- 13
0
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Usage of “I will be. . . if it were”
I found a statement in one of my old write-up and I can't not be sure if this is wrong. I am not a native English speaker.
I will be surprised if it were to be discovered that consciousness is absent ...
- 1,172
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Is a comma or "if" needed in this sentence
"X might not have been made had money been a priority"
We are discussing with friend about this sentence, which I had trouble understanding at first.
To me, it'd have been more idiomatic ...
- 113
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How does the false-conditional work in "I made sandwiches if you want some"?
This use of "if" has a completely different meaning than its normal conditional meaning. Can someone explain to me how this construction works, and provide other examples of this sort of thing?
- 1,255
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Trouble with second conditionals (with “could”)
I would do B if you could do A.
This is a statement which has been bothering me for quite a while. I come across such statements often and, to me, they make no sense. Could is the subjunctive of can —...
- 43
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Must conditional sentences begin with "if?"
I've been looking at conditional sentences (conditional clauses).
Every example I've see is along the lines of, "if [x] then [y]."
I've seen alternatives/substitutes for the if part:
were I ...
- 31
2
votes
2
answers
14k
views
What does "should something happen" mean?
What is the meaning of should loss occur in the following text?
Backup and recovery procedures protect your database against data loss and reconstruct the data, should loss occur. The ...
- 5,507
2
votes
4
answers
33k
views
What is the tense of "I would have been happy to..."?
I would have been happy to let you use the money, if you would give me a date to leave.
Is this a past present tense? I need to explain this statement I made, correctly.
- 21
2
votes
2
answers
217
views
If- conditional construct using future events
A friend invited me to his summer house later this summer, so I told him I would if it doesn't overlap with my plans. This is how I stated it:
I’d come, if it doesn't overlap with my scheduled ...
- 11k