People like to talk about is “unreal/untrue.” They love to talk about what will happen in certain cases, what could happen in the future, and what could have happened but didn’t.
CONDITIONAL CLAUSE AND SUBJUNCTIVE
By:
Saidna Zulfiqar bin Tahir
INTRODUCTION
People like to talk about is “unreal/untrue.” They
love to talk about what will happen in certain cases, what could happen in the
future, and what could have happened but didn’t.
Untrue does
not mean that the speaker is lying, of course. It means that he or she is
speaking of some situation that does not or cannot truly exist. The situation
is hypothetical and not real. Untrue is defined as “contrary to fact” or “the
opposite of what is true and real.”
Terminology: An
if-clause is also called a “clause of condition.” its part of
conditional sentence. Conditional sentences have a sort of “truth value” in the
mind of the speaker. The if-clause contains a condition under which, in
the speaker’s opinion, an expected result might or might not occur. The result
clause can state the speakers’ prediction of an outcome.
Students should understand this point by the time
they complete this text. In everyday conversation, the subjunctive use of were
instead of was with singular subjects is more typical of American
than British English. Favoring formal usage, the text encourages the use
of were, but either is correct.
This paper aims to discuss about conditional clause
and subjunctive clearly to overcome the students’ misunderstanding and to make
distinguishing between conditional clause and subjunctive and its kinds.
CONDITIONAL
1.
Conditional
sentences
Conditional sentences are sentences expressing factual implications, or hypothetical
situations and their consequences. They are so called because the
validity of the main clause of the sentence is conditional
on the existence of certain circumstances, which may be expressed in a dependent
clause or may be understood from the context.
A full conditional sentence (one which expresses the
condition as well as its consequences) therefore contains two clauses: the
dependent clause expressing the condition, called the protasis;
and the main clause expressing the consequence, called the apodosis.
An example of such a sentence (in English)
is the following:
If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled.
Here the condition is expressed by the clause if it rains,
this being the protasis, while the
consequence is expressed by the picnic will be cancelled, this being the
apodosis. (The protasis may either
precede or follow the apodosis; it is equally possible to say "The picnic
will be cancelled if it rains".) In terms of logic, the protasis corresponds to the antecedent, and the apodosis to the consequent.
Languages use a variety of grammatical forms and
constructions in conditional sentences. The forms of verbs used in the protasis and apodosis are often subject
to particular rules as regards their tense
and mood. Many languages have a specialized type of
verb form called the conditional mood – broadly equivalent in
meaning to the English "would (do something)" – for use in some types
of conditional sentence.
2.
Types
of conditional sentence
There are various ways of classifying conditional sentences.
One distinction is between those that state an implication between facts, and those that
set up and refer to a hypothetical situation. There is also the distinction between
conditionals that are considered factual or predictive, and those that are
considered counterfactual or speculative (referring to a situation that did not
or does not really exist).
a. Implicative
and predictive
A conditional sentence expressing an implication
(also called a factual conditional sentence) essentially states that if
one fact holds, then so does another. (If the sentence is not a declarative sentence, then the consequence
may be expressed as an order or a question
rather than a statement.) The facts are usually stated in whatever grammatical
tense is appropriate to them; there are not normally special tense
or mood patterns for this type of conditional
sentence. Such sentences may be used to express a certainty, a universal
statement, a law of science, etc. (in these cases if may often be
replaced by when):
If
you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
If
the sea is stormy, the waves are high.
They can also be used for logical deductions about
particular circumstances (which can be in various mixtures of past, present and
future):
If it's raining now, then your
laundry is getting wet.
If he locked the door, then Kitty is
trapped inside.
A predictive conditional sentence concerns a
situation dependent on a hypothetical (but entirely possible) future event. The
consequence is normally also a statement about the future, although it may also
be a consequent statement about present or past time (or a question or order).
If I become President, I'll lower
taxes.
What will you do if he invites you?
If you see them, shoot!
b. Counterfactual
In a counterfactual or speculative conditional
sentence, a situation is described as dependent on a condition that is known to
be false, or presented as unlikely. The time frame of the hypothetical
situation may be past, present or future, and the time frame of the condition
does not always correspond to that of the consequence. For example:
If
I were king, I could have you thrown in the dungeon.
If
I won the lottery, I would buy a car.
The difference in meaning between a
"counterfactual" conditional with a future time frame, and a
"predictive" conditional as described in the previous section, may be
slight. For example, there is no great practical difference in meaning between
"If it rained tomorrow, I would cancel the match" and "If it
rains tomorrow, I will cancel the match".
The word if is helpful in recognizing the if
clause. Unfortunately, it is not always present. Notice what happened in the
following special cases (PDEC, 2011).
Type 1: Should
If you should get a letter from Greece, give me a call
Should you get a letter from Greece, give
me a call
Notice that in the second example, if is eliminated and should
and the subject you invert.
Type 2: Were
If you were teller,
you could reach the light
Were you teller, you could reach the
light
Again, if is
eliminated. This time, were inverts
with the subject you.
Note: in if
clauses containing the modal were to, inversion can also occur. (Exampel: if
you were to take the job, where would you live? And were you to take the job,
where would you live?).
Type 3:
If I had agreed,
Jim would have married me
Had I agreed, Jim would have married me
Notice that in the second example, if is eliminated and had
inverts with the subject I.
It is in the counterfactual type of conditional sentence
that the grammatical form called the conditional
mood (meaning something like the English "would ...") is
most often found. For the uses of particular verb forms and grammatical
structures in the various types and parts of conditional sentences in certain
languages, see the following sections.
Languages have different rules concerning the grammatical
structure of conditional sentences. These may concern the syntactic
structure of the condition clause (protasis)
and consequence (apodosis), as well
as the forms of verbs used in them (particularly their tense
and mood). Rules for English and certain other
languages are described below; more information can be found in the articles on
the grammars of individual languages. (Some languages are also described in the
article on the conditional mood).
3.
Conditional
in English
In English conditional sentences, the condition clause (protasis) is most commonly introduced by
the conjunction if, or sometimes other
conjunctions or expressions such as unless, provided (that), providing
(that) and as long as. Certain condition clauses can also be
formulated using inversion without any conjunction (should
you fail...; were he to die...; had they helped us...).
In English language teaching, conditional
sentences are often classified under the headings zero conditional, first
conditional (or conditional I), second conditional (or conditional
II), third conditional (or conditional III) and mixed
conditional, according to the grammatical pattern followed (Alexander,
1990).
"Zero conditional" refers to conditional sentences
that express a simple implication, particularly when both clauses are in the
present tense: "If you don't eat
for a long time, you become hungry." This form of the conditional
expresses the idea that a universally known fact is being described: "If
you touch a flame, you burn yourself." The act of burning
oneself only happens on the condition of the first clause being completed.
However such sentences can be formulated with a variety of tenses (and moods),
as appropriate to the situation.
"First conditional" refers to predictive
conditional sentences; here, normally, the condition is expressed using the
present tense and the consequence using the future: "If you make a mistake,
someone will let you know."
"Second conditional" refers to the pattern where
the condition clause is in the past tense, and the consequence in conditional
mood (using would or, in the first person and rarely, should).
This is used for hypothetical, counterfactual situations in a present or future
time frame (where the condition expressed is known to be false or is presented
as unlikely).
If I liked parties, I would
attend more of them.
If it rained tomorrow, I would
dance in the street.
The past tense used in the condition clause is historically
the past subjunctive; however in modern English
this is identical to the past indicative
except in the case of the verb be (first and third person singular),
where the indicative is was and the subjunctive were. In this
case either form may be used (was is more colloquial, and were
more formal, although the phrase if I were you is common in colloquial
language too):
If I (he, she, it) was/were rich, there would be plenty of money available for
this project.
"Third conditional" is the pattern where the
condition clause is in the past perfect, and the consequence is expressed
using the conditional perfect. This is used to refer to
hypothetical, counterfactual (or believed likely to be counterfactual) situations
in the past
If you had called me, I would have come.
"Mixed conditional" usually refers to a mixture of
the second and third conditionals (the counterfactual patterns). Here either
the condition or the consequence, but not both, has a past time reference:
If you had done your job properly, we wouldn't
be in this mess now.
If we were soldiers, we wouldn't
have done it like that.
SUBJUNCTIVE
Subjunctive is the mood of a verb denoting what is
imagined, wished, or possible, e.g. I
insist that it be finished. (Nelson,
2001).
1. Kind of Mood
Mood refers
to distinctions in the form of a verb phrase that express the speaker’s
attitude towards what is said. There are three moods: indicative, imperative
and subjunctive.
a.
Indicative mood
is the most common mood in declarative, interrogative and exclamative
sentences.
Paul enrolled in a music class
Does Amy like her
new school?
What a big house you have!
b. The
imperative is used in
issuing orders:
Move over.
Stop
that
at once.
c. Subjunctive moods is used
when we refer to a non-factual or hypothetical situation:
If I were you, I would accept the
offer.
If Mr Heseltine were Prime
Minister, what would he do?
This is called the were-subjunctive because
the verb phrase consists solely of were. The mandative subjunctive is
used after a small number of verbs, including ask, decide, insist,
recommend, and suggest, when these verbs are followed by that:
The committee insisted that she resign
immediately.
The lawyer asked that he be given
more time to prepare.
The mandative subjunctive is also used after the
following adjectives: crucial, essential, imperative, important,
necessary, vital:
It is important that every room be ventilated.
It is vital that prisoners be supervised
at all times.
The use of the subjunctive is much more common in
American English than in British English. In British English, the indicative
mood is often preferred:
If I was you, I would accept the
offer.
It is vital that prisoners are supervised
at all times.
The
subjunctive survives in a number of formulaic expressions:
As it were
Be that as it may
Far
be it from me
If
need be
God be praised
Long live the Queen
Wish
you were here
2.
Subjunctive
Verb
The
following lists of verbs are used before that-clause
in which a simple verb is used to express importance (Ba’dulu, 2009):
Ask propose
Demand recommend
Desire request
Insist require
Prefer suggest
Incorrect : the doctor suggested that she will
not smoke
Correct : the doctor suggested that
she not smoke
3.
Noun
derived from Subjunctive Verbs
The
following lists of nouns derived from the subjunctive verbs can be used in the
pattern.
Demand recommendation proposal
Insistence request suggestion
Preference requirement
Incorrect : she ignored the suggestion that she
gets more exercise
Correct : she ignored the suggestion
that she get more exercise
OTHER
FORMS OF CONDITIONAL & SUBJUNCTIVE
1.
Wish.
In English, the verb wish is commonly followed by a that
clause, the word that being optional
and generally omitted. Wish is used in English to express desire. Like certain
types of if clauses. Wishes are
considered to be hypothetical or unreal by English speakers. This is symbolized
by the modal or tense of the verb that follow wish. (PDEC,
2011).
Three
types of desire can be expressed by the verb wish.
a.
The
first step is desire for something to happen (an action or an event).
I wish you would play the piano for us
Jack is
lonely and wishes his parents would
visit
We wish we
could go on weekend trip
Notice that would and could are
always used rather than present tense. Will or can which would be
incorrect.
b.
The second
type is a desire for the existence of something-a condition, a quality, a
habitual occurrence, etc., or a desire for something to be happening at the
present time.
Noah wishes he knew you
I wish I were taller
Everybody wishes the sun were shining (now)
c.
The third of wish
express regret about the past.
I wish I had graduated from high school
Kathy will wish she hadn’t married so young
We wished we hadn’t been convinced to buy
that house (passive)
In this type wish is
followed by the past perfect tense rather than the past tense. Notice that the
verb wish need not occur in the past but the situation must always refer to the
past.
Wish can also be
followed by an infinitive, for example: I wish to know the results of the
test as soon as possible. In this instance, wish is usually a
more formal way of saying want or a more direct (possibly impolite or
imperious) way of saying would like. This use is rare.
The subjunctive use of were instead of was
with I / he / she / it is considered formal by some but standard by
others. Students who will take the TOEFL exam need to recognize and be able to
work with the subjunctive using were.
Only an auxiliary (helping verb) verb is required in
each item. Note that British and American English differ somewhat in usage. For
example:
- I
can’t sing well, but I wish I could. (AmE) vs. I
can’t sing well, but I wish I could do. (BrE)
- I
didn’t go but I wish I had. (AmE) vs. I
didn’t go but I wish I had done. (BrE)
- He
won’t . . . , but I wish he would. (AmE) vs. He
won’t, but I wish he would do. (BrE)
When speakers want something to happen in the future
and think it is possible, they usually use hope to introduce their idea:
I hope they (will) come. When they want something to happen but think it
is probably not possible, they’d probably use wish: I wish they would come.
A common mistake is the use of will in the noun clause following wish:
INCORRECT: I wish they will come.
2.
Unless
Unless,
which has a meaning similar to if not,
can also be used in conditional clause. The following two sentences have a
similar meaning:
If
it doesn’t rain, we’ll go to the lake
Unless
it rains, we’ll go to the lake
Other example: I can’t
go unless I get my work finished
3.
Hope
The verb hope
can be used with will to express a
desire about the future.
I hope the
train will be on time
The verb phrase had + hoped expresses a hope in the
past that did not happen or unfulfilled desire in the past.
We had hoped
that he would stay longer
4.
Despite
and In spite of
Despite and In spite of have the same meaning. They
introduce a contradiction in a sentence or clause of cause-and-result to
condition and unexpected result (Ba’dulu, 2009).
Despite the delay, they arrived on time
In spite of delay, they arrived on time
CLOUSURE
An if-clause also
called a clause of condition, it is sentences expressing factual implications, or hypothetical
situations and their consequences, while subjunctive
is the mood of a verb denoting what is imagined, wished, or possible.
REFERENCES:
Ba’dulu, A Muis. 2009. Advanced English Grammar. Makassar; Badan Penerbit UNM.
Gerald
Nelson. 2001. English - an Essential
Grammar, New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library.
L. G. Alexander. 1990. Longman English grammar Practice -For intermediate students-. New York; Longman.
Pre-Departure English Course (PDEC). 2011. Testing Your Grammar. Makasaar: Language
Center the State University of Makassar.
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