Grammar-Quizzes › Connectors › Connective Prepositions › Conditional › Real vs. Unreal Conditional

Real vs. Unreal Conditional (Modal Use)

Express whether something is an open or a remote possibility

In Context

Jack – mowing When Jack came home Friday evening from work, he noticed his lawn was overgrown and needed some work. Because he works Monday through Friday as an electrician, his weekends are free to do as he pleases. This weekend, he will spend some time with friends and do some yard work. He will mow the lawn if he has time.

Ted- resting When Ted came home Friday evening from work, he also noticed that his lawn was overgrown and needed work. Because he works six days a week as a healthcare worker, he has almost no free time and is usually exhausted on weekends. This weekend is his only opportunity to rest. He would mow the lawn if he had time.

exhausted (Adj) – extremely tired

lawn (N) – a garden area with ornamental grass (usually cut short, evenly)

likely (Adj) – probable, possible to happen

mow (V) – cut grass with garden equipment (machine)

overgrown (Participial Adj) – the appearance is not neat (the grass high, uneven)

Real vs. Unreal Conditional

OPEN / REAL – CONDITIONALS
A real conditional includes two parts: if → then. One action must happen before the other can happen. An open conditional is used when the likelihood of something happening is in the real world, a factual one. A present tense verb in the condition phrase (If he has time) expresses that the situation can happen. If it does, the activity in the other clause will happen. A modal —will, can, may, or should— is used in the main clause. A past verb in the condition phrase and the main clause expresses that there was an open possibility that the condition occurred. (The speaker doesn't know for sure.) And if it did, the speaker infers that the action in the main clause occurred.
IF-PHRASE 1ST ACTION	MAIN CLAUSE 2ND ACTION
PRESENT CONDITION	PRESENT / FUTURE
If he has time today, If he is feeling energetic, The possibility is good.	Jack will¹ mow the grass. Jack will clean up his yard. He doesn't know if he will have time yet.
PAST CONDITION	PAST
If he had time yesterday, If he was feeling energetic, There was a good possibility. I don't know if he did; I wasn't there.	Jack mowed the grass. Jack cleaned up his yard. He did or didn't do it depending on whether the condition was true. We are concluding or inferring what happened.

REMOTE / UNREAL – CONDITIONALS
An unreal conditional has two parts: if → then. One action must happen before the other can happen. A remote conditional is used when the likelihood of something happening is in a distant, imaginary, contrary-to-fact world. A preterit² verb in the condition phrase (If he had time) and a modal verb in the main clause [would + verb] expresses that the condition has a poor chance of happening; therefore, the activity in the main clause is unlikely to happen. A past perfect verb in the condition clause (If he had had time) and the past modal [would have + verb] expresses that the failed condition was the reason or excuse for the situation in the main clause not happening.
IF-PHRASE 1ST ACTION	MAIN CLAUSE 2ND ACTION
PRESENT CONDITION	PRESENT / FUTURE
If he had time, If he felt rested, The probability is poor. (perhaps in another world)	Ted would mow the grass. Ted would clean up his yard. He isn't going to mow or clean up the yard.
PAST CONDITION	PAST
If he had had time, If he had felt rested, The probability was poor; the action or situation did not happen. This is the reason / excuse for the action in the main clause not happening.	Ted would have mowed the grass. Ted would have cleaned up the yard. He didn't mow the grass or clean up.

¹ modals which can express future timing: will, can, may, might, shall, should

² preterit – a verb form, which is often used to express past timing, but may also express irrealis, an imaginary or hypothetical situation, contrary to reality: I wish I were there. If I had money, I would buy a plane ticket. (This preterit form is also called subjunctive.)

energetic (Adj) – having energy, physical or mental strength

if (connective preposition) — heads a prepositional phrase that takes a clause as its complement. (In current linguistic description, a preposition is not limited to taking a noun as its complement. A preposition can take a number of structures its complement. Call me if you are ready. (Cls) Call me if ready. (Adj), Call me if in the mood. (PP) See Prepositional Complements.)

infer (V) – to guess by reasoning or logic; form an opinion that something is probably true based on the information or evidence

irrealis (grammatical mood) – imaginary; contrary to reality; the situation or action is not known to have happened as the speaker is talking

likely (Adj) – likely to happen – probably will happen, 50% or better or neutral (50 / 50); unlikely – poor chance of happening

open conditional — in linguistic description, the name for a real or true conditional is "open" because the possibility of occurring is probable.

remote conditional — in linguistic description, the name for an unreal, untrue, or hypothetical conditional is "remote" because they denote distance — both in formality and reality.

Often Confused — Conditional if vs. Routine if

CONDITIONAL — SINGLE OCCURRENCE
Conditional if is used for a single particular event or situation. If X happens, then Y happens next. (if, unless)
If Hurricane Ella comes our way, we will close and cover up our windows. If the authorities allow it, we can open our windows and go outside again.

CONDITIONAL — SINGLE OCCURRENCE

Conditional if is used for a single particular event or situation. If X happens, then Y happens next. (if, unless)

If Hurricane Ella comes our way, we will close and cover up our windows.

If the authorities allow it, we can open our windows and go outside again.

TEMPORAL PREPOSITION — MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES
Routine if is used for multiple activities or situations. Anytime X happens, then Y happens. (when, whenever, anytime)
If / When / Whenever a big storm comes our way, we close the windows. Before a big storm comes our way, we close up and cover the windows. After the storm passes, we open them.

TEMPORAL PREPOSITION — MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES

Routine if is used for multiple activities or situations. Anytime X happens, then Y happens. (when, whenever, anytime)

If / When / Whenever a big storm comes our way, we close the windows.

Before a big storm comes our way, we close up and cover the windows. After the storm passes, we open them.

Related pages: If vs. When and Before, After, When

If → Then Constructions

Request, explain, excuse, analyze, speculate, strategize and more

if → then Constructions

IF THEN CONSTRUCTIONS PRESENT VERBS
if → then constructions with present verbs express "open" (real) conditional situations. if → then constructions can also imply (but not clearly state) other meanings: requests (expectation of action), cause and effect (the second action is a logical response to the situation), plans (logical sequences for action), analysis (thinking about options to take or avoid) and setting the background for a question.
CONDITIONAL IF → THEN
If it rains today, call me and we'll reschedule. (a true condition – a singular event)
CAUSE AND EFFECT IF → THEN
If it rains, I take an umbrella. (a logical response to a situation) When it rains, I take an umbrella. ("when" – multiple, time-related, routine)
INDIRECT REQUEST IF → THEN
If you will send a check, (we'll get started on the work.) (In some cases the main clause is not included.) Please send us a check. Then, we will get started.
SOFTENER PHRASE IF → THEN
If it's not too much trouble, will you please get me some coffee. If you don't mind, please smoke outside. If you're up, would you turn on the printer.
SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS IF → THEN
If they can get the plans to us by 2 p.m., we'll copy them and send them off the contractor. (First, second, then, next…) If he moves the ball to the corner, block it and pass it to the goalie, then he can kick it in.
PERSUADE IF → THEN
If I am to help you, you must try a little harder. If you expect to graduate, you will have to study harder and put aside other distractions. If you improve your grades, we'll help you pay for college.
BACKGROUND INFO IF → THEN
If our company goes bankrupt, will a larger company buy us out? If the president is impeached, can Congress convict him? If the drought continues, should we cut back on water use? If we run out of sour cream, can I use yogurt?
STRATEGY IF → THEN
What if ² you see him, will you tell him my secret? (No, I won't!) What will you do if he suddenly appears on your doorstep? What if he suddenly appears on your doorstep? (shortened)

IF THEN CONSTRUCTIONS PRETERITE VERBS
if → then constructions with preterit verbs express "remoteness" (distance from this reality). They are often used in conditionals, but also in other situations, for example, if → then constructions can indirectly state: polite requests (giving the other person space to say "no"), explanations or excuses (in a "perfect world"), reviewing options not taken an accident ("if I had done this differently"), and exploring options by imagining them first.
CONDITIONAL IF → THEN
If it had rained, I would have taken my umbrella. (unreal condition– singular event)
CAUSE AND EFFECT IF → THEN
If it rains, I take an umbrella. ("when" – multiple, time-related, routine) Whenever it rained, I took an umbrella. ("when" , time-related, past routine)
POLITE REQUEST IF → THEN
If you would send³ a check, we could get started on the work. If you see him, would you tell him I called. If you will step this way, I will show you to your table.
SOFTENER PHRASE IF → THEN
If you wouldn't mind³, I would like to leave early. If you would³, I could use a ride to the train station. If you would be³ so kind, would you give me a call later tonight?
ANALYSIS OF PAST ACTIONS IF → THEN
If they had sent us a check, we could have purchased materials and started working. (It wasn't my fault. "could have") If he had blocked the corner kick, then I could have passed the ball to the goalie, and we would have scored. But he didn't.
PROBLEM-SOLVING IF → IF THEN
If consumers would buy³ electric cars, we would have cleaner air. If the car manufacturer had tested its cars more thoroughly, consumers wouldn't have had so many repair costs. If the city planners hadn't built a sea wall, we would be flooded now.
SPECULATION IF → IF THEN
If our company went bankrupt, would a larger company buy us out? ~ If the president were impeached, could Congress convict him? * If the drought continued, should we cut back on water use? * If we ran out of sour cream, could I use yogurt?
STRATEGY IF → IF THEN
What if ² you saw him, would you tell him my secret? (No, I wouldn't!) What would you do if he suddenly appeared on your doorstep? What if he suddenly appeared on your doorstep? (shortened)

"The remote construction differs in meaning from open in that it entertains the condition as being satisfied in a world which is potentially different from the actual world." (Huddleston 8 §14.2.1)

~When the context of the open conditional requires a real world, immediate answer, hypothetical wording sounds odd: the more time-sensitive (urgent) the question, the less hypothetical the wording.

hypothetical (Adj) – based on a situation that is not real; imaging the situation in a distant or another world

if → then – in mathematics, hypothesis — conclusion; If (hypothesis) – then (conclusion)

¹ if vs. in the event, in case – Condition vs. Precautionary Action

² what if – expression for posing a hypothetical situation; What if God was one of us? (song)

³ If you would (V modal) – In these examples, would expresses mood: If you will, if you would expresses if you are willing (agree) to do something. Note that "if they bought electric" cars focuses on the action, but "if they would buy electric cars" focuses on their attitude toward (acceptance of) the technology.

((Huddleston 8 §14) (Swan 257)

Also see Past Hypotheticals 1 (The Concorde) and Past Hypotheticals 2 (The Titanic)

Modals in the Main Clause

Express opinion about the second action

Will / Would, May / Might, Can / Could

REAL
In a real (open) conditional structure, a modal — will, shall, may, might, could, or should expresses the speakers opinion or thought regarding the second action. See Modal Summary for examples of meanings expressed by modals.
PRESENT	RELATED ACTIVITY OR SITUATION
If he has time,	Jack will /may /can / should mow the grass.
OPEN
"This situation has a good chance of occurring	this is the related action that will occur.
ACTUAL
This situation	will trigger this situation to happen. (one action starts the next action)
PAST	RELATED ACTIVITY OR SITUATION
If he had time,	Jack mowed the grass.
OPEN
"This situation had a good chance of occurring	This is the (logically) related action that occurred.
ACTUAL
This situation	triggered this situation to happen. (Speaker doesn't know if it occurred, but speculates.)

UNREAL
In an unreal (remote) conditional structure, modal would or would have expresses an alternate, perhaps ideal world. This "remote" wording is used to soften an unpleasant response, apologize for failure or consider an alternate option. See Past Hypotheticals for examples.
PRESENT	RELATED ACTIVITY OR SITUATION
If he had time,	Ted would mow the grass.
REMOTE THINKING
"This action or situation, in an another world...	will cause this related activity to occur."
ACTUAL SITUATION
This situation or action has a poor chance of occurring.	This outcome has a poor chance of occurring.
PAST	RELATED ACTIVITY OR SITUATION
If he had had time,	Ted would have mowed the grass.
REMOTE THINKING
"This action or situation, in an another world...	caused this related activity to occur.
ACTUAL SITUATION
This situation did not occur	so this related activity did not happen.

See Degrees of Certainty.

likelihood – probability, favorability

trigger (V) – one action causes another action to happen immediately afterward; "trigger" is the part of a gun that someone pulls with the index finger that causes the hammer to strike the end of the bullet, which explodes and fires the bullet out the barrel of the gun. (a chain reaction)

will – sure, certain

Modals in the Condition Clause

Express opinion or attitude about a condition

Modals with Real & Unreal

REAL
Can, could, may, might express the probability of the condition happening. (The condition must occur before the other activity in the main clause can occur.)
LIKELY CONDITION	PRES & FUTURE – RESULT CLAUSE
If he has vacation time,	Jack will take the day off.
*If he will have vacation time,
If he can get some time off, — sometimes he is able to.
If he may do so, — sometimes he is permitted to.
	PAST – RESULT CLAUSE
If he had vacation time,	Jack took the day off.
*If he would have vacation time,
If he could get some time off, — sometimes he was able to.
If he might do so, — sometimes he was permitted to.

UNREAL
Could, could have, might or might have express unlikely possibility for the condition to be real (true). Thus, the second action in the main clause will not occur.
UNLIKELY CONDITION	PRES & FUTURE – RESULT CLAUSE
If he had time today,	Jack would mow the grass.
*If he would have time.
If he could have time. — he's not able to.
If he might have time. — he's not permitted to.
	PAST – RESULT CLAUSE
If he had had time,	Jack would have mowed the grass.
*If he would have had time,
If he could have had more time, — he wasn't able to.
If he might have had time, — he was not permitted to.

likelihood – probability, favorability

will – sure, certain

may, might, could – probable

*not used

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
I would do my homework if I would have more time. (Not incorrect, but uncommonly used.)
I would have finished the test if I would have had a little more time.

ERROR

I would do my homework if I would have more time.

(Not incorrect, but uncommonly used.)

I would have finished the test if I would have had a little more time.

SOLUTION
I would do my homework if I had more time. If I had more time, I would do my homework. (The simple past verb form is preferred in the if-phrase.)
I would have finished the test if I had had more time. I would have finished the test if they might have given us more time. (Might have can be used to politely state a critique or review that is negative. "no permission") I would have finished the test if I could have found another pencil. (Could have adds information about an unavailable item, "no ability")

SOLUTION

I would do my homework if I had more time.

If I had more time, I would do my homework.

(The simple past verb form is preferred in the if-phrase.)

I would have finished the test if I had had more time.

I would have finished the test if they might have given us more time. (Might have can be used to politely state a critique or review that is negative. "no permission")

I would have finished the test if I could have found another pencil. (Could have adds information about an unavailable item, "no ability")

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Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Traditional Grammar and Linguistic Description

Traditional and Linguistic Descriptions

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR
In traditional grammar, a sentence with a conditional clause with a true situation is a real conditional, and an untrue situation is an unreal condition, a hypothetical condition or an imaginary present, past or future. An if clause refers to a condition — something which must happen so that something else can happen. (Swan 257) if conjunction "We use special structures with if when we are talking about unreal situations — things that will probably not happen, situations that are untrue or imaginary… We use past tenses and would to 'distance' our language from reality." (Swan 258) If-clauses "also called adverb clauses present possible conditions. The main clause expresses result." (Azar 17-6, 20-2)
REED-KELLOGG DIAGRAM

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR

In traditional grammar, a sentence with a conditional clause with a true situation is a real conditional, and an untrue situation is an unreal condition, a hypothetical condition or an imaginary present, past or future.

An if clause refers to a condition — something which must happen so that something else can happen. (Swan 257)
if conjunction "We use special structures with if when we are talking about unreal situations — things that will probably not happen, situations that are untrue or imaginary… We use past tenses and would to 'distance' our language from reality." (Swan 258)

If-clauses "also called adverb clauses present possible conditions. The main clause expresses result." (Azar 17-6, 20-2)

REED-KELLOGG DIAGRAM

LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
Conditional construction: if + content clause—protasis; matrix (main) clause— apodosis (Huddleston 8 §14) if — preposition that takes a content clause as its subordinate complement. PP [P + finite clause] open: If you come on Sunday, we'll have dinner together. open: If you came on Sundays, you always had dinner with them. remote: if you came tonight, we would have dinner together. (preterit, irrealis) remote: if you had come tonight, we would have had dinner together. (past preterit, irrealis) If I was / were… preterit verb form. Irrealis (Huddleston 3 §1.7)
TREE DIAGRAM

LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION

Conditional construction: if + content clause—protasis; matrix (main) clause— apodosis (Huddleston 8 §14)

if — preposition that takes a content clause as its subordinate complement. PP [P + finite clause]

open: If you come on Sunday, we'll have dinner together.
open: If you came on Sundays, you always had dinner with them.

remote: if you came tonight, we would have dinner together. (preterit, irrealis)
remote: if you had come tonight, we would have had dinner together. (past preterit, irrealis)

If I was / were… preterit verb form. Irrealis (Huddleston 3 §1.7)

TREE DIAGRAM

Categories: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective; Subord – Subordinator; Coord – Coordinator; Interj – Interjection

Functions: Subject: Subject, Predicate: Predicator (V) Complement: elements required by the verb: object, indirect object, predicative complement Adjuncts: (optional modifiers) Adj, Adv

Works Cited

Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English. Pearson Education, 1999.
Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
O'Brien, Elizabeth. "Diagramming Sentences Exercises: Chapter 1." English Grammar Revolution. 2016. english-grammar-revolution.com/english-grammar-exercise.html. Accessed on 10 Oct. 2016.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
"Sentence diagram." Wikipedia. 28 Sep. 2016. Accessed on 10 Oct. 2016.