A.
Introduction
Conditional sentences mean sentences
that contain something that will be done if the conditions are met.
·
I will serve you some cake if you come to my party.
·
If
I wear a bird, I should fly as high as possible.
From the two examples above we can
see that the conditional sentence consists of two parts:
a.
Main clause is a part of a compound sentence that can stand alone
if separated from other parts of the sentence. Main
clauses already have a subject and predicate. In the
second example above which the main clause
I will serve you I should
fly as high as possible
S P S P
Main
clause contains something that will be done or would have happened if something
that is required is fulfilled.
b.
Subordinate clause or
“if clause” is part of a compound sentence that cannot stand alone if separated
from other parts of the sentence. Subordinate clause hasn’t yet a
complete understanding that needs to be combined with other sentences,
especially the main clause. Therefore, it’s called a dependent clause (bound
clause). It’s said as bound clause because
it’s still bound by its main sentence and it does not have a complete understanding.
Subordinate clause is always
preceded by "if" or "Had" (in inverted sentence).
Subordinate clauses can be placed as
follow:
1. In
front of the main clause. In this
case the clause was limited by a comma (,)
o If
it Rains, I will take an umbrella
o If
Mr. Charles were as our English teacher, we should be active students.
2.
After the main clause
o I
will take an umbrella if it Rains.
o She will come here today if we invite her
B. Kinds
of Conditional sentence
Conditional sentence in English can
be grouped into three, namely:
- Conditional sentences type I (probable or real conditions)
Usage:
a. To declare a condition that will happen
at a future time when other conditions occur:
·
Ita will go to the party tomorrow if she
has time
·
If Sherly come, her mother will cook her
favourite food
Note:
Note the comma, when the “if clause”
is in the beginning of sentence then the comma (,) is given, but if the “if
clause” is in the middle of sentence, comma is not needed.
b.
To express an event that might occur
if the conditions are met, with the characteristics - characteristics:
1.
Part
of the sentence that’s containing the condition is begun with the word if (if
clause).
2.
Part of the sentence which is the result (outcome), in the
form of Present Tense or Future Tense.
3.
These sentence patterns are used to
a).
Stating Future Tense
S 1 + Future Tense + IF + S 2 +
Present tense
|
o
If I have money, I will buy a car.
- They will help you if you ask them.
b). Stating habits (habitual action or situation)
S 1 + Present Tense + IF + S 2 +
Present Tense
|
- If I do not eat breakfast, I always get hungry during the class.
- Rani usually walks to school if she has enough time.
c). Stating
Commands
Imperative form + IF + S 1 +
Present Tense
|
·
If you go to the office, please mail
the letter.
·
Please call me if you hear from
Laila.
·
Do not do anything if you think it
is useless.
- Conditional sentences type II (Present unreality / improbable or unreal condition)
Usage:
a). To
express a condition contrary to the reality of today.
Past Future
Simple past
IF
Would/could/might + Verb I S
+ Verb II
fact
|
|
With verbs (verb)
(+) S + V 1 or
(-) S + do / does + not + V 1
|
Without verbs (non-verb)
(+) S + am / is / are + complement
(-) S + am / is / are + not +
complement
|
- Ali would give you a job if he had a company
Fact: He
does not give a job because he does not have a company
- If I were you, I would accept Udin as my lover.
Fact: I'm not you so I do not
accept Udin as my lover
To express something that is against the odds once, or assume, or perhaps just
this will happen in the future or the present.
Although it uses past tense verbs
in the sentence that contains the if,
but did not refer to the past
- If Omar did not pass in his exam, he would have to repeat the year.
- I Could met Ita's parents if I visited her house
- If I had time, I would go to the beach this weekend
(I do not have time) (I will not to
go the beach this weekend)
Note:
In type II conditional was never uses, but using both were all the plural or singular objects.
- If you want to express desire or wish, use the “would”.
- He would come if you invited him.
- If I have enough food, I would give you
- If you want to express necessity, use the form "should"
- If it were not rain, you should come here.
- She should visit her mother if she had spare time.
- Type II can also be expressed with other patterns, namely:
- If he were to resign, he would get another job.
(= If he resigned ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....)
- If the train were to depart on time, you should miss it.
(= If the train Departed on time
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...)
- Conditional Sentence Type III (Past Unreality / improbable or unreal condition)
Usage:
To state a condition contrary to fact in the past.
Past
Future Perfect
Simple Past Perfect
IF
Would/could/might + Have + V 3 Had + V 3
Fact
|
|
With
Verb
(+)
S + V 2
(-)
S + did + not + V 1
|
Without
Verb
(+)
S + was/were + complement
(-)
S + was/were + not + complement
|
· Would Tom have passed the test last
month if he studied hard
Fact:
Tom Did not pass the test last month Because he Did not study hard.
b. To declare an event that is not
possible because time is passing, or simply to assume (imagine) what happened
in the past.
If + S + Past Perfect .... +
Could/ Have/Might + past participle
|
- If we had known that you were in front of the gate, we would have opened it and allow you to come in.
(We did not know that you were in
front of the gate, so we did not open and did not allow you to come in).
- If they hadn’t lost their way, they would have arrived sooner.
(They lost their way, so they did
not arrive sooner).
Type III also can be also expressed by another pattern, namely:
If ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... were to have ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
- If I were to found the book, I would have given it to you.
(If I found the book ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...)
- If they were to have come earlier, they could have met the manager.
(If they had earlier come ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..)
Note:
Unreal means "does not match
reality." It
can be said as "a sentence that says modality or to imagine a fact or
situation that is incompatible with the fact that there are at this
moment." Therefore, the
word IF in conditional sentence Type II and Type III should be
translated as "if or suppose", not if or when, because the
situation is not in reality. This means that state cannot be changed again as what
was imagined or assumed. The situation
was supposedly impossible or may be not happen again. While the Type I sentences, future real
(possible) condition can be translated with the word when or if,
not if or suppose because there is a
different manner in their using. If is used to declare a thing or situation that is not contrary
to the facts / realities. That is something that still may
occur. While the word if
or suppose is used to something that supposedly is not
likely to happen again because it imagined a past and impossible.
C. Conditional
without If
Conditional
sentence without if is not different
with a conditional sentence that is preceded by if.
Removing if in the sentence can only
be done on Type II and Type III.
1. In the conditional Type II
Here too, we can eliminate if, if the subordinate clause does not
use the verb phrase but using were a nd
it is in the beginning of the sentence.
Were +
S + complement
|
Past Future
|
Will + V 1
|
(+) S + are / is / am +
complement
(-) S + are / is / am + not +
complement
|
So + S + V1 (s / es) + O
So + S + do / does + not + O
|
Or
(-) S + do / does + not + V1 + O Because S + am / is / are + not + complement
|
- Were I you, I would care your Parents.
Fact: I'm not you, So I do not care
your Parents.
- Should he ask her, she would marry him soon.
(= If he asked her ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....)
- Conditional Sentences Type III
Conditional Sentence Type III, we
can eliminate the IF by putting HAD in front of the subject.
And there is subordinate clause in the beginning of a sentence.
Past Future
|
|
Will + V 1
|
fact
|
|
With the verb
(+) S + V2
(-) S + did + not + V 1
|
Without a verb
(+) S + was / were + complement
(-) S + was / were the resource +
not + complement
|
- Had Ali studied hard, he would have passed the test last month
If Ali had studied hard, he would have passed the test last month.
Fact: Ali did not pass the test last month because he did not study hard.
- Were I have to found the book, I would have given it to you.
(If I had found the book ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...)
C.
Progressive Verbs in Conditional
Sentence
Progressive
verb (verb - ing) can also be used in a conditional sentence.
· Real in the present time: It's raining
right now, so I will not go for walk.
· Unreal in the past-time: if it were
not raining right now, I should go for a walk.
· Unreal in the present time: I wasn't
living in Jambi last year; I wasn't working at a bank.
· Unreal in the past-time: If I
have been living in Jambi last year, I should have been working at a
bank.
D. Modals in Conditional Sentence
Besides shall, should, will, and would,
there are two more commonly modals that used in conditional sentence, they are
could and might.
- If I Could sing as well as Iwan fals, I would join establish a music club.
- If I Did not get a scholarship, I Might get a job instead of going to graduate school next Spring.
- If there Should Be another world war, the continue existences of the human race would be a Jeopardy.
E. Conditional Sentence to State Expectations
Besides
using the pattern above, it can also be used in sentences supposition, wish is
also used when the speaker desires a reality that is different from the
existing reality, which is contrary to reality. Wish is followed by a
noun clause.
- Used in future form
o Sherly will not tell the story to me.
I wish that Sherly would tell the story to me.
o Ita
cann't teach us tomorrow.
We wish
Ita could teach us tomorrow.
- Used in present form
o
Diana cann't speak English.
Diana wish that she could
speak
English.
o Laila
does not come to the school camping.
Laila
wish that she could come to the
school camping.
- Used in past
o Ita
Did not come in here yesterday.
I wish
Ita had come in here yesterday.
o Sherly couldn't come.
I wish Sherly would
have come.
F. Other Forms Of Contional Sentence
1.
Unless
(If Not)
·
She will complain if he doesn’t agree.
Unless she agrees she will complain.
·
Unless you start at once you will be
late.
If you don’t start at once you will be
late.
2.
Even
If
·
You must go to Jakarta tomorrow even if
you aren’t ready.
·
Even if the weather is cold, I’m going
to go swimming.
3.
Whether
………………….. Or = If ………………….. Or
·
I’m going to go swimming tomorrow
whether or not it is cold.
(Whether it is cold or not)
· You
must go to school soon whether you are ready or not.
4.
In
Case (That)
(Followed by present, past or should)
·
You should insure you house in case
there is a fire.
·
I packed swimming suit in case I should
have time to go to beach.
·
I will at my uncle’s house in case you
(should) need to teach me.
5.
But
for : If it were not for/ if it hadn’t been for
· But
for the storm we would have come earlier
(If it were not for the storm ………………………)
· But
for the bad road, I would win the game
(If it were not for the bad road
………………….)
6.
Provided
(that) / providing
· I
will come provided you won’t call on me to sing.
· Providing
(that) she studied hard, she should pass the final exam.
· You
can borrow my bike provided/ providing you sent me a letter.
7.
Suppose
/ supposing ……….? = What if ……………?
·
Suppose they can’t come, what will you do?
·
Supposing you hadn’t passed the final
exam
What would have happened if you hadn’t passed the final
exam?
8.
Implied Condition
If clause is often not clearly
stated (explicitly), but the hidden (implicitly) but the result clause which
shows the result or effect was evident in the sentence.
· I
would have gone with you, but I have to study.
(Explicit condition = if I hadn’t had
you study)
· He
drove very fast; he would have missed the bus.
(Explicit condition = if he not driven
very fast)
· He
never would have succeeded without your help.
(Explicit condition = if you hadn’t
helped him)
Bibliography
Suryadi
and Juanida. 2009. Complete
English Grammar. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.
Mas’ud,
Fuad. 2005. Essentials of English Grammar.
Yogyakarta: BPFE.
Murphy,
Raymond. 1985. English Grammar in Use. Jakarta:
Erlangga.
Hakim, Thursan.,
Drs. 2008. Panduan Praktis Menerapkan
English Grammar dalam Percakapan Sehari-hari. Jakarta: Kawan Pustaka.
Hariyanto, Dony dan Hariyono, Rudy.,
Drs. 2003. English Grammar for General
Application. Surabaya: Gitamedia press.