Patterns - read and memorize!
Real condition
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Unreal condition
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referring to
the present or future
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referring to
the past
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1. If he reads more, it will
be easier
for him to study.
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1. If I knew English literature better, it would
be easier for me to study.
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1. If I had
known English literature better
at school, I should have written
a better composition at the entrance
exam.
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2. If he studies in our group, we shall
appoint him monitor.
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2. If he studied in our group, we should
appoint him monitor.
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2. If he had
studied in our group in the 1st
course, he would have been our
monitor.
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3. If they go to the country next summer,
their son will feel
better.
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3. If they went to the country every summer,
their son would feel
better.
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3. If they had
gone to the country last
summer, their son would have
already recovered.
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Note 1 - In complex sentences expressing real condition the Future Indefinite
is used in the principal clause, the Present Indefinite - in the subordinate
clause. (in sentences referring to the future.)
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Note 2 - In complex sentences expressing unreal condition referring to the present
or future the Present Conditional Mood is used in the principal clause,
Present Subjunctive II - in the subordinate clause.
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Note 3 - In complex sentences expressing unreal condition referring to the
past,
the Past Conditional Mood is used in the principal clause, Past Subjunctive II - in the subordinate clause.
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- Go to The Oblique Moods page
- Go to Conditional Mood Examples in Proverbs and Quotations page