Tugas 3 Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris Berbantuan Komputer

CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

DEFINITION

Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. In English, most sentences using the conditional contain the word if. Many conditional forms in English are used in sentences that include verbs in one of the past tenses. This usage is referred to as "the unreal past" because we use a past tense but we are not actually referring to something that happened in the past. There are five main ways of constructing conditional sentences in English. In all cases, these sentences are made up of an if clause and a main clause. In many negative conditional sentences, there is an equivalent sentence construction using "unless" instead of "if".

TYPES OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Conditional Sentence Type	Usage	If Clause Verb tense	Main Clause Verb Tense
Zero	General Truths	Simple Present	Simple Present
Type 1	A possible condition and it’s probable result	Simple Present	Simple Future
Type 2	A hypothetical condition and it’s probable result	Simple Past	Present conditional or Present continuous conditional
Type 3	An unreal past condition and it’s probable result in the past	Past Perfect	Perfect Conditional
Mixed Type	An unreal past condition and it’s probable result in the past	Past Perfect	Present Conditional

TYPE 0

Zero conditional sentences express general truths—situations in which one thing always causes another. When you use a zero conditional, you’re talking about a general truth rather than a specific instance of something.

Examples :

·         If you don’t brush your teeth, you get cavities.

·         When people smoke cigarettes, their health suffers.

Secondly, notice that the words if and when can be used interchangeably in these zero conditional sentences. This is because the outcome will always be the same, so it doesn’t matter “if” or “when” it happens.

TYPE 1

First conditional sentences are used to express situations in which the outcome is likely (but not guaranteed) to happen in the future. Note that we use the simple present tense in the if-clause and simple future tense in the main clause—that is, the clause that expresses the likely outcome.

Examples :

• ·         If you rest, you will feel better.
• ·         If you set your mind to a goal, you’ll eventually achieve it.

TYPE 2

Second conditional sentences are useful for expressing outcomes that are completely unrealistic or will not likely happen in the future. Notice the correct way to structure second conditional sentences is to use the simple past tense in the if-clause and an auxiliary modal verb (e.g., could, should, would, might) in the main clause (the one that expresses the unrealistic or unlikely outcome). When applying the second conditional, use the simple past tense in the if-clause.Use a modal auxiliary verb in the main clause when using the second conditional mood to express the unlikelihood that the result will actually happen.

Examples :

• ·         If I inherited a billion dollars, I would travel to the moon.
• ·         If I owned a zoo, I might let people interact with the animals more.

TYPE 3

Third conditional sentences are used to explain that present circumstances would be different if something different had happened in the past.

Examples :

• ·         If you had told me you needed a ride, I would have left earlier.
• ·         If I had cleaned the house, I could have gone to the movies.

These sentences express a condition that was likely enough, but did not actually happen in the past. The speaker in the first sentence was capable of leaving early, but did not. Along these same lines, the speaker in the second sentence was capable of cleaning the house, but did not. These are all conditions that were likely, but regrettably did not happen.

Note that when using the third conditional, we use the past perfect (i.e., had + past participle) in the if-clause. The modal auxiliary (would, could, shoud, etc.) + have + past participle in the main clause expresses the theoretical situation that could have happened. With third conditional sentences, do not use a modal auxiliary verb in the if-clause. The third conditional mood expresses a situation that could have only happened in the past if a certain condition had been met. That’s why we use the modal auxiliary verb + have + the past participle.

NOTE :

·         Use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the main clause.

Exceptions and Special Cases When Using Conditional Sentences

As with most topics in the English language, conditional sentences often present special cases in which unique rules must be applied.

Use of the Simple Future in the If-Clause

Generally speaking, the simple future should be used only in the main clause. One exception is when the action in the if-clause will take place after the action in the main clause. For example, consider the following sentence:

If aspirin will ease my headache, I will take a couple tonight.

The action in the if-clause is the aspirin easing the headache, which will take place only after the speaker takes them later that night.

“Were to” in the If-Clause

The verb phrase were to is sometimes used in conditional sentences when the likely or unlikely result is particularly awful or unthinkable. In this case, were to is used to place emphasis on this potential outcome. Consider these sentences:

If I were to be sick, I would miss another day of work.

If she were to be late again, she would have to have a conference with the manager.

If the rent were to have been a penny more, they would not have been able to pay it.

Note that the emphatic “were to” can be used to describe hypothetical scenarios in the present, future, and past.

Punctuating Conditional Sentences

Despite the complex nature of conditional sentences, punctuating them properly is really simple!

Here’s the skinny:

Use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the main clause.

If I’d had time, I would have cleaned the house.

If the main clause precedes the if-clause, no punctuation is necessary.

I would have cleaned the house if I’d had time.

SOURCES :

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/conditional-sentences/