Advanced English · 24 min
Conditionals
The point
A real future uses if plus the present, then will. An unreal present uses if plus the past, then would, and were for a hypothetical I. A past that did not happen uses had plus the past participle, then would have. Do not put would in the if clause.
Form and use
Conditionals split the if-clause from the result. Will and would stay out of the if-clause. Zero is a fact: present, then present. First is a real future: present, then will. Second is unreal now: past, then would, with were for a state, including after I. Third is an unreal past: had plus a participle, then would have plus a participle.
Full negative and question shapes: If ice melts, water forms. If ice does not melt, water does not form. Does water form if ice melts? If she sends it, he will reply. If she does not send it, he will not reply. Will he reply if she sends it? If I were free, I would help. If I were not free, I would not help. Would you help if you were free? If we had known, we would have waited. If we had not known, we would not have waited. Would we have waited if we had known?
A fact and a real future both use a present verb after if. The result stays present for a fact and takes will for a real future. Unreal now uses a past form. Unreal past uses had plus the participle. If I were the editor, I would send it today.
Do not put will or would in the if-clause. If we will delay and if we would have known are wrong. Say if we delay, the note will slip. Say if we had checked, we would have caught the error.
Don't translate it like this
Don't say
If we would delay, the note will slip.
Say
If we delay, the note will slip.
미루면 메모가 미끄러집니다.
Would does not belong in the if clause of a real conditional.
Short examples
If we delay, the note will slip.
미루면 메모가 미끄러집니다.
If I were the editor, I would send it today.
제가 편집자라면 오늘 보내겠습니다.
Had we known, we would have waited.
알았더라면 기다렸을 것입니다.
If ice melts, water forms.
얼음이 녹으면 물이 됩니다.
If she does not send it, he will not reply.
그녀가 보내지 않으면 그는 답하지 않을 것입니다.
Will he reply if she sends it?
그녀가 보내면 그가 답할까요?
If I were free, I would help.
내가 한가하다면 돕겠습니다.
If I were not the editor, I would not send it.
내가 편집자가 아니라면 보내지 않을 것입니다.
If we had known, we would have waited.
알았더라면 기다렸을 것입니다.
If we had not checked, we would not have seen it.
확인하지 않았더라면 보지 못했을 것입니다.
Would you have waited if you had known?
알았더라면 기다렸을 것입니까?
Questions
Every question has to be right to close this point.
Answer every question, then check.