The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002
10.1. Open and hypothetical conditions
Unit ten. Conditions
Sections 207-210; 275; 366-367
Conditional sentences typically consist of a conditional (sub)clause and a main clause expressing the result which follows if the condition is satisfied. There are three basic patterns:
(i) If Tom wins a fortune in the lottery, he will buy a yellow submarine.
[= open condition: present/future time reference]
(ii) If Tom won a fortune in the lottery, he would buy a yellow submarine.
[= hypothetical condition: present/future time reference]
(iii) If Tom had won a fortune in the lottery, he would have bought a yellow submarine.
[= hypothetical condition: past time reference]
The two clauses often appear in reverse order.
Some of the above verb forms are replaceable by other forms, although there are a number of restrictions, especially in terms of tense.
If is by no means the only conjunction introducing a conditional clause.
In some sentences a conditional phrase is used instead of a conditional clause.
Task one *
Study the following sentences, deciding which of the three basic patterns of conditional they can be related to. Also discuss any special features.
Example: Without an organ transplant, Robert Pennington would survive only hours.
→ Relatable to type 2: the conditional part ’without an organ transplant ’ can be replaced by, i.e. be expanded into, ’if he didn’t get an organ transplant’.
1. If low wages were the chief magnet for industry, Haiti would be the manufacturing hub of the world.
2. Our hero will sacrifice the first living being he encounters, provided that he reaches land safely.
3. Supposing the minister concerned had decided to send a fleet of bombers to Tasmania: what would have happened?
4. You will not get an electric shock so long as you don’t touch that live wire.
5. Ground coffee loses its flavour within five or six days unless it is specially packaged.
6. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass.
(The Highway Code, §144)
7. This information may be reproduced free of charge provided that it is reproduced accurately.
8. Unless road signs or markings indicate otherwise, you should use the left-hand lane when going left.
(The Highway Code, §121)
9. France and Germany might put aside their antagonism if given economic incentives for cooperation.
10. In case of burglary, report any loss of valuables to the local police.
11. In the event of renewed terrorist attacks, civil liberties might have to be curbed.
12. It is inconceivable that any scholar could have attained an important post in 1942 without the official sanction of the Nazi regime.
Task two **
Reword the following sentences, expanding them where necessary and using one of the three basic patterns.
Gerry Adams said there would be no peace process but for John Hume’s courage and Example: vision.
→ ... if John Hume wasnt so courageous and didn’t have so much vision.
(or: ... if John Hume hadn’t been so courageous and hadn’t had so much vision ... = if-clause refers to past time)
1. Given the opportunity, the tax office will take the easy way and grab whatever it can.
2. Without fear, the tax office would have a difficult time maintaining our system of so-called voluntary compliance.
3. In case of anticipated payment, please ignore this invoice.
4. Giving people confidence that information about them on the Internet is safe will boost electronic commerce.
5. The lieutenant governor succeeds the governor in case of the latter’s death, removal from office, or disability.
6. Don’t drive so fast or you’ll smash into a lamppost.
7. Failure to comply with the rules will result in a one point deduction or disqualification.
8. In the event of my not being elected I will be the member of parliament for Holborn and St Pancras.
(British politician Frank Dobson)
9. But for the protesters a passer-by might have mistaken the annual conference of the party for a mass funeral.
10. The Treaty of 1839 guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium in case of a conflict in which Great Britain, France and Germany were involved.
11. What happened to Mr Dias would have been prevented by a proper freedom of information bill.
12. Without reform and better relations with the United States, Iran will face a major drastic upheaval.
13. Cling too long to yesterday’s strategy and you could be in trouble, no matter how powerful you are.
14. Intensified violence would make it difficult to reach a negotiated settlement.
Task three **
Complete the following sentences, using forms of the verb in brackets which are compatible with the rest of the sentence.
1. If you (ever visit) ... this area, (not miss) ... the Science Centre.
2. Most people (send) ... their kids to the best schools if they (strike) ... it rich.
3. Supposing for a moment that sea levels (rise) ... by several feet, don’t you think vast tracts of land (be) ... flooded.
4. Rodents (cause) ... severe damage to trees unless proper control measures (be) ... employed.
5. Modern civilization (probably develop) ... much more slowly if people (not move) ... from place to place.
6. If you (be) ... kind enough to help, we (can) ... easily move all this stuff to the attic.
7. I (never pay) ... such a huge sum if you (not lend) ... me 50,000 dollars that day.
8. If Herbert (not teach) ... me how to swim, I (almost certainly drown) ... in the lake that afternoon.
9. I (not have) ... all these problems with my car now if I (choose) ... to buy a more sophisticated model.
10. If the Soviet Union (make) ... honourable use of the idealism it inspired in the West, it ... still survive and be a happy place today.
11. Our whole strategy (have) ... to be reviewed in case new problems (arise) ... over the marketing of our products.
12. If the police (catch) ... us then, they (send) ... us back across the border.
Task four **
Complete the following sentences, adding a main clause that is compatible with the conditional subclause or, alternatively, a conditional subclause that is compatible with the main clause.
Example: If you had listened to me ...
→ ... you wouldn’t have run into trouble. (= continuing past time reference)
→ ... you wouldn' t be in trouble now. (= present time reference)
1. If you see Arthur ...
2. If you were in my place ...
3. Will you lend me £20 if ...
4 ... would you have paid the bill?
5. I should have had my photograph taken if ...
6. Surely if you ... he would understand.
7. If he had told you everything ...
8. Would you have told him the truth if …
9 ... unless you come up with better arguments.
10. If you cannot deal with the problem yourself ...
11. If ... he would send me to the principal at once.
12. Wouldn’t it have been extraordinary if ...
13. If I were Prime Minister ...
14. The Second World War would have run a very different course if ...
15. If William the Conqueror ...
Task five ***
All of the following sentences are from the 2001 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 2000 (pp. 855) and use the so-called historic present (see CGE §131). It may be argued that these events would not have happened if the underlying causes had not existed. Such sentences could, therefore, be turned into hypothetical statements about the past, as in the following (adapted) example:
4 April:
Lord Archer is expelled from the Conservative Party for five years for breaches o p political ethics and integrity.
→ Lord Archer would not have been expelled from the Conservative Party if he had no breached political ethics and integrity.
→ ... if he had acted in accordance with political ethics and kept his integrity.
Now transform the next twelve sentences in similar ways, making any structural and lexical adjustments that are necessary.
1. 20 January: A leading official in Germany hangs himself as a parliamentary group begins an investigation into illicit payments to his party in the 1990s.
2. 27 February: The Limpopo River in southern Africa overflows its banks after weeks of heavy rains and disastrous flooding.
3. 10 March: A dam in a Romanian mine breaks, causing spillage of toxic metals into nearby rivers.
4. 5 April: A computer glitch closes down the London Stock Exchange for nearly eight hours on the last day of Great Britain’s fiscal year.
5. 12 May: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticizes the US for its reluctance to participate fully in peacekeeping operations in Africa.
6. 9 June: Buenos Aires is brought to a virtual standstill as workers stage a one-day strike to protest the Argentine government’s austerity plan.
7. 2 July: The former communist rulers in Mongolia are returned to power after a landslide victory in the general election.
8. 12 August: The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea after the hull is damaged by a series of explosions.
9. 16 September: Public transportation in Los Angeles shuts down as the United Transportation Union goes on strike.
10. 5 October: Responding positively to a challenge from Germany, the European Court of Justice halts a proposed European Union-wide ban on tobacco advertising.
11. 30 November: The city of Bethlehem cancels its traditional Christmas celebration owing to the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
12. 7 December: Officials in California declare a stage-three power alert as electricity reserves drop to dangerous levels.
Task six ***
Rewrite the following dialogue, using conditional sentences (eight in all).
Example: Go home now, otherwise your Dad won’t be too pleased.
→ If you don t go home now, your Dad won’ t be too pleased.
Tom: The world will be like paradise twenty years from now. Ever more robots will relieve us of all sorts of boring tasks.
I don’t agree. Life on earth might be hell. Just imagine these robots becoming more intelligent than humans. Some of them could even
a sy: develop into monsters. Scientists may decide to fit them with brains.
Tom: What? Scientists behaving like modern Frankensteins? There would be every reason to worry then. No, they will introduce very strict om: guidelines, so everything will be under control.
And what about cloning? Terrible, a few nutty professors reproducing themselves. Let’s lock them up, otherwise things will get out of Daisy: hand.
Tom: You sound like one of those latter-day Luddites. Put a few of them in charge and we’re back in the Stone Age.