Conditional Tenses And The Conditional Sentences example essay topic

INTRODUCTION There are several structures in English that are called "Conditionals". Condition means "situation or circumstance". When we think about conditionals we normally refer to the sentences in which we are saying that the occurrence of one event depends on the other event. Although the various Conditional forms might seem quite abstract at first, they are actually some of the most useful structures in English and are commonly included in daily conversation.

People sometimes call conditionals "IF" structures or sentences because there is usually the word "if" in a conditional. This is one theme I will discuss in this paper. There are also differences when trying to describe the different types of conditional sentences. These different approaches in the description and explanation of this aspect will be seen in this paper. For this purpose I have chosen four different books of English grammar, and I will compare how this grammatical aspect is seen in these books. The first book I have chosen to compare this grammatical aspect is A Practical English Grammar.

In this book there is a whole chapter dedicated to "the conditional". First they introduce the "conditional tenses" and then the "conditional sentences". They start by distinguishing the 'present conditional tense' and the 'perfect conditional tenses'. The first one is formed "with should / would and the infinitive" (I should / would work) and the second with "should / would and the perfect infinitive" (I should / would have worked). For each tense they give tree cases in which they are used, being the conditional sentences one of them. Then, there is a section for the conditional sentences.

They explain that conditional sentences have two parts: " the if-clause and the main clause". They continue differentiating three kinds of conditional sentences: "conditional sentences type 1: probable, conditional sentences type 2 and conditional sentences type 3". They dedicate more or less two pages for each one. They also explain which verb tense correspond to each part of the conditional sentence, but they give more attention to the meaning of the whole sentence and the situations in which we can use a determinate type of conditional. It is also given more importance to the possible variations of the basic form (like the use of modals in the main clause or the use of two present tenses in type 11, etc).

These explanations are organised in several sections subdivided in smaller ones, so it is very easy to find a specific definition. After the section dedicated to the conditional sentence type 3, there is another section where there are explained the special uses of will / would and should in if-clauses. This part of the chapter shows the exceptions in which these auxiliaries can be used after if in conditional sentences. Finally, there are four more sections dedicated to if replaced by unless, but for, otherwise, etc, in case, if only and the conditional sentences in reported speech. These last four sections are more complicated than the first ones. These concepts are explained in detail and giving some examples, but it can be a bit confusing for pre-intermediate students.

Moreover, in the same book they advise students who are studying the conditional for the first time to ignore the variations and exceptions and concentrate on the basic forms. The presentation of the same concept in the second book: English Grammar in Steps is a bit different. First of all, the conditionals are seen in three chapters; the fist one called "If sentences: 1st and 2nd conditional". By the title it seems that conditionals are part of the if sentences.

And what happens with the 3rd conditional? It is in the second chapter: "If in past situations: 3rd conditional"; then the third chapter deals with the use of unless, provided (that), as long as and in case. Each chapter is divided in 3 or 4 sections or Steps. In this book the conditionals are not treated as extensively as in the first book, but they remark the basic forms of each type of conditional sentences. They start with the 1st conditional. At the beginning of each section there is a small text in which it appears the kind of sentences we are seeing, and the examples given for the explanations are related to the text.

This is interesting because, apart from the examples, we can see the conditionals used in a real text, which is very helpful to understand their general use. Then we jump to another Step: "If + present tense + can, should, may, might, etc". Here this construction is briefly explained, different to the first book (A Practical English Grammar) in which these variations of the main clause are seen in detail and with a more extensive semantic explanation. Then, we have Step 3 dealing with the use of present simple in both parts of the sentence and the use of the imperative, the present continuous and the present perfect in the if clause. They put all these variations of the first conditional together in the same section, while in the first book they consider the use of the present tense + the present tense a variation of the main clause, and the rest as variations of the if clause. In my opinion, in the book A Practical English Grammar these variations of the 1st type of conditionals are better classified; but they forget to comment on the use of the imperative in the main clause.

In the next Step they look upon the second conditional. The only variations treated here are the use of could or might, and the past continuous in the second clause. Again, we can observe that in the first book the second type is treated exhaustively if compared with English Grammar in Steps. In the first book they explain the semantic situations in which we can use this type of conditional, and they observe the possible variations of the basic form (as the use of past tense in the main clause 1 and the use of past continuous or past perfect in the if-clause). One thing we don't find in the first book but English Grammar in Steps has, is a Practice section. We have some exercises at the end of each chapter to put in practice the grammatical aspect we are seeing.

Regarding the third conditional, in the second book we have a whole chapter dedicated to this type: "If in past situations: 3rd conditional". Here they make a clear distinction between what they consider the if-clause and the past conditional. It seems that here they identify the main clause as the conditional form, and the if-clause as something apart. Maybe they are referring to the conditional tense, but they don't clarify this aspect as they do in the first book. In A Practical English Grammar they differentiate between the conditional tenses and the conditional sentences at the very beginning.

From my point of view, in the second book this lack of specification may lead to further confusions. As with the other types of conditionals, in the second book the 3rd conditional and its variations are briefly explained. Finally we have another chapter dedicated to the uses of unless, as long as, provided (that) and in case within the conditionals. In the first book we have a similar section but it has more cases (as the use of but for, otherwise and suppose instead of if, and the conditional sentences in reported speech). It also has a section for the special uses of will / would and should in if-clauses.

The third book is English Grammar in Use. In this book the conditionals are seen in three chapters, but they don't use the term "conditionals", "conditional sentences" or "If-clauses". For instance, the first chapter: "If I do... and If I did... ". is introduced by two examples. They ask you to compare both situations. This is similar to the second book in which they begin with a short text, but here they explain the situation and the semantic implications.

As I have mentioned before, we can observe that neither in the title nor in the whole chapter, there is a clear reference to the grammatical aspect we are seeing. They only explain the structure of the sentences made with if. As in the book English Grammar in steps, at the end of each chapter there is a practice section, but here you have the answers at the end of the book. In the first chapter they treat the first and second conditionals. It is very briefly explained (only in one page); they consider the different verb tenses used in each part of the sentence, and they mention the possible use of could and might. In the second chapter: "If I knew...

I wish I knew... ". they see the second conditional and the use of wish (to regret something: "I wish it wasn't raining"). This is interesting because any of the other two books has considered this aspect within the conditionals. Only in the first book they see the use of if only (if only it wasn't raining) which has more or less the same meaning as the expression with 'wish'. Then in the third chapter, they deal with the third conditional; again it is shortly explained. As with the second conditional, they see the use of wish with the past perfect (I wish something had happened) but in the other books, they do not consider this expression as a conditional form. Finally we arrive to the fourth book: A university Grammar of English.

Here we have a totally different approach to the conditionals. First of all, they consider the conditionals as clauses: clauses of condition. They are within the adverbial clauses, which are introduced by subordinators. We have adverbial clauses of time (introduced by after, before, etc. ), clauses of place and clauses of condition and concession (introduced by if and although respectively).

So here "if" is considered a subordinator. In the books A Practical English Grammar and English Grammar in Steps the whole construction is considered as a 'conditional sentence', which is divided into two clauses: the main clause and the if-clause. But here the 'if-clause' is regarded as the conditional clause, which is subordinated to another clause (being if the subordinator) and forming a complex sentence. In the book English grammar in Use they only make a brief reference to the "if-part of the sentence" and "the other part of the sentence". In my opinion this is not a grammatical explanation.

In the fourth book, first they differentiate between finite adverbial clauses of condition (a full conditional clause) and non-finite and verb less clauses (as "if ready"). In this section they consider the use of unless for negative conditions, and the compound conjunctions: provided that, as long as, so long as and condition that. The first two conjunctions are also seen in the first and second book. In this book they do not distinguish three types of conditionals as in the other books. They differentiate two types: the real and unreal condition, depending on the fulfilment or not of the condition expressed. They also deal with the conditional-concessive clauses (whether... or...

). As we have observed, in this book the conditionals are seen from a more morphological approach than in the other books. There is only theory, with no practise section, and with few examples to illustrate the explanations. From my point of view, this book is orientated to university students or people who want to study in depth the English grammar.

The other books would be more appropriate for intermediate or advanced students. The book A Practical English Grammar has only theory as well, but apart from having more examples, in this book the Conditionals are presented using clear and simple vocabulary. Not as in A University grammar of English, in which they use technical words as subordinators, adverbial clauses, etc. You have to be used to these grammatical terms to understand better the explanations. With all these characteristics and differences between the four books, we could organise them from the more theoretical to the more practical one, being in first place A university Grammar of English, then in the second position: A Practical English Grammar.

The book English Grammar in Steps would be placed in the third position, and finally as the most practical one: English Grammar in Use. We have seen different approaches to the grammar aspect of the Conditionals. As John Tynan and Eva Delgado point out in their article 'Mood Tense and the Interpretation of Conditionals', in traditional grammars conditional sentences belong to the category of adverbial subordinate clauses. This is the approach followed in the book A University Grammar of English. Other grammarians simply call the conditionals "If Sentences", as in the book English Grammar in Use, and partially in English grammar in Steps.

Personally, I do not agree with this idea because they are restricting the conditionals to the structures made with if-clauses, and there are many ways of expressing the meanings that get expressed in conditional sentences; like in these examples: "Do you like it? It's yours" (if you like it, it is yours), "with his hat on, he would look older" (if he had his hat on, he would look older). So, the most common way of describing the conditionals is the one followed by the first and second book (A PEG and e.g. IS). In these books, the conditional sentences are considered the sum of two parts: the antecedent (or protasis) and the consequent (or apodosis). In their article, J. Tynan and E. Delgado (as most grammarians do) call them P and Q, from the tradition of representing material implication as "P implies Q" (hence if P, Q). In the two books mentioned before, P and Q are presented as the if-clause and the main clause respectively.

One aspect that is not seen in any of the four books is the subjunctive mood. As Zhou Kaixin observes in his article 'A Modest View on the Subjunctive Mood', the subjunctive mood expresses the speaker's subjective wishes, suggestions, suppositions, etc. The most forms it takes are the past tense form of the verbs, as the simple past, past progressive, past perfective, etc., which are used in the Conditionals. But in the books treated in this paper, there is no reference to the subjunctive mood. They present the verb tenses used in the Conditionals as if they were formed in the indicative mood.

John Tynan and Eva Delgado also mention the importance of the subjunctive when interpreting the different meanings of the conditional sentences. Taking all these aspects into account, I think that the book in which the conditionals are better explained, presented and classified is A Practical English Grammar. In my opinion, this is the best book because they follow the "P and Q" approach, which is the best way to understand the different types of conditionals. They clearly differentiate the three types in which conditionals can be divided, and how they are formed. The deal with almost all the possible variations and special cases of the conditional sentences. In conclusion, this is my favourite book.

ABSTRACTS - Zhou Kaixin. 1996. A modest view on the subjunctive mood. English Studies Journal 77 (1), 92-97. In this article Zhou Kaixin deals with the explanation of the subjunctive mood from the point of view of the traditional grammar. He begins with a brief definition of mood, confronting different opinions from some grammarians which (some of them) think that it doesn't exist a subjunctive mood at all.

He opposes this approach asserting that the subjunctive mood is an 'objective reality', and he gives reasons for his opinion. Then, he establishes the different forms of subjunctive mood and the way they are expressed. He distinguishes three main forms: the base form, the indefinite form and the perfective form; the last two forms used in conditional clauses. Finally these three forms are discussed with some useful examples. - Tynan, J. & Delgado Lav " in, E. Mood, tense and interpretation of conditionals.

From the book: On Conditionals again, Current issues in linguistic theory, series IV. 116-139. In this Chapter John Tynan and Eva Delgado look at the tense and mood of conditionals in the English and Spanish language. First they explain the category of conditional sentences within the traditional grammar, mentioning its connectives and functions.

They focus on the relations between the two constituents of a conditional sentence and the characterisation of the connective to the conditional interpretation. Then, they deal with the verb tenses and how they are used in conditionals. Finally they observe the distinctions between the indicative and subjunctive mood, from a semantic point of view, and how they are associated with speaker assumptions regarding the character of the proposition that is being expressed. All this with full examples in Spanish and English, contrasting the differences and similarities between the two languages.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

Bibliography

Books - Thomson, A, & Martinet, A. 1982.
A Practical English Grammar. Oxford. - Quirk, R et al. 1979.
A University Grammar of English. London: Longman. - Bolton, D. & Good ey, N. 1996.
English Grammar in Steps. London: Richmond Publishing. - Raymond Murphy. 1994.
English Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press. - Abbot, G.W. 1974.
Conditionals. London: Longman. Articles and chapters from books - Tynan, J. & Delgado Lav " in, E. Mood, tense and interpretation of conditionals. In Angelika Athanasia dou and Ren'e Dirnen (eds.) On Conditionals again, Current issues in linguistic theory, series IV. 116-139. - Zhou Kaixin. 1996.