[Owl]Conditional Statements



A conditional sentence has two parts: the "if" clause - the "protasis", and the "then" clause - the "apodosis".
 
The protasis states the condition under which the main clause will be (will not be), is being (is not being), or was (was not), fulfilled:

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A. SIMPLE CONDITIONS (Open)

(one that does not imply any doubt about the fulfillment of the condition stated in the protasis)

i) Present open

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative present, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - indicative present

Si hoc facit, beatus sum.
(If he is doing this, then I am happy.)

ii) Future real

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative future, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - indicative future

Si hoc faciet, beatus ero.
(If he does this, then I will be happy.)

- Note that in the Latin future real, both the protasis and apodosis are future, whereas the English protasis is present.

iii) Past open

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative past, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - indicative past

Si hoc fecit, beatus eram.
(If he did this, I was happy.)

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B. UNREAL CONDITIONS
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Future less vivid If - Subjunctive Present Then - Subjunctive Present
Contrary to fact - Present If - Subjunctive Imperfect Then - Subjunctive Imperfect
Contrary to fact - Past If - Subjunctive Pluperfect Then - Subjunctive Pluperfect

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i) Future less vivid

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - subjunctive present, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - subjunctive present

Si hoc faciat, beatus sim.
(If he should do this [I doubt he will], I would be happy.)

ii) Present contrary to fact

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - subjunctive imperfect, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - subjunctive imperfect

Si hoc faceret, beatus essem.
(If he were doing this [but he is not], I would be happy [but I am not].")

iii) Past contrary to fact

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - subjunctive pluperfect, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - subjunctive pluperfect

Si hoc fecisset, beatus fuissem.
(If he had done this [but he did not, I would have been happy [but I was not].)


The basic formulae for English conditional sentences.
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A. Simple or Open Conditions

i) Present simple

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative present, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - indicative present

If x approaches 0, then the value of f(x) approaches infinity.
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ii) Future more vivid

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative present, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - indicative future

"If you come tomorrow, I will be happy."

(The speaker is not saying that it is unlikely that you will come tomorrow, but if you do, then... When a simple or open condition applies to a future event, it is often called the "future more vivid", or the "future real" condition.)
iii) Past simple

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative past, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - indicative past

"If you saw him yesterday, then he was here."

(The speaker is not doubting or suggesting that you did not see him yesterday, but if you did, then he was here.)
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B. Unreal (and Contrary to Fact) Conditions

(The speaker may be implying or explicitly stating that the condition stated in the protasis will not be, is not, or was not fulfilled.)

i) Future less vivid

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - should; were to, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - would

"If you should come (or were to come) tomorrow, then I would be happy."

(The speaker doubts that you will come, but if you should, then he would be happy.)

ii) Present contrary to fact

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative imperfect, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - would

"If you were eight and a half feet tall, you would be a great basketball player."

(But you are not eight feet tall, so you are not a great basketball player. But if you were...)

iii) Past contrary to fact

ˇ§ifˇ¨ - indicative pluperfect, ˇ§thenˇ¨ - would have

"If George had been there, we would have won the game."

(But he was not there, so we did not win the game. But if he had been there...)

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