Mixed conditionals
Real reasoning often crosses time zones: a past cause with a present result, or a present cause with a past result. Mix the halves of the second and third conditionals accordingly.
Past condition \(\to\) present result
+ past perfect, + base verb:
Present condition \(\to\) past result
+ past simple, + participle:
Choose each half of a conditional independently: past perfect for unreal past, past simple for unreal present, in the -clause; for past results, for present results. The four combinations all occur.
Inverted conditionals
Formal English can drop and invert subject and auxiliary:
(= If I had known)
(= If the offer were…)
(= If you should require — polite business style)
Negatives are not contracted in inversion: ()
Other refinements
+ noun: (Formal inversion: )
+ noun (formal):
:
: strong contractual .
for remote chance:
for hypothetical futures:
:
:
The subjunctive
English keeps two fossilized subjunctives, both alive and well in formal usage.
The mandative subjunctive
After verbs, adjectives, and nouns of demanding, suggesting, and requiring (), the -clause verb appears in the base form for all persons:
Negative:
The mandative subjunctive is vigorous in American English. British English often prefers : — or even the plain indicative: (which risks ambiguity with a factual reading). In international formal writing, the subjunctive () is the safest choice.
The -subjunctive
Unreal for all persons survives in conditionals and after :
Formulaic subjunctives
Fixed expressions preserve older syntax:
Exercises
Mixed conditionals Complete with appropriate forms.
If they
(not/move) abroad in 2010, their children
(speak) Spanish now.
If he
(be) more careful by nature, he
(not/lose) his passport last week.
If I
(accept) their offer, I
(work) in Berlin today.
Inversion Rewrite without , using inversion.
If you should change your mind, let us know.
If the government had acted sooner, lives would have been saved.
If the company were to relocate, half the staff would leave.
If it hadn’t been for the referee’s error, we would have won.
Subjunctive Complete using a subjunctive construction.
The doctor recommended that he
(take) a month’s rest.
It is essential that the data
(be) verified before publication.
The union demanded that the decision
(reverse — passive).
She treats me as if I
(be) a child.
It’s high time the council
(do) something about the potholes.