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Unreal Present and Unreal Past
· If I were smarter, I would have graduated from Stanford.
(But I am not smarter and therefore I didn't graduate from Stanford.)
· If Mary weren't a snob, she wouldn't have had so many parties this year.
(But Mary is a snob and therefore she had so many parties this year.)
6. Negatives with ‘if...not’ and ‘unless’
If not and unless are sometimes interchangeable but there are
occasions when it is impossible to use one in place of the other
When ‘if...not’ and ‘unless’ are interchangeable
Both if not and unless can be used in negative Type 1 conditionals without a noticeable change of meaning:
If you don't change your mind I won’t be able to help you.
Unless youchange your mind I won’t be able to help you.
However unless is stronger than If not and is sometimes preferable:
Unless the management improve their offer there’ll be a strike.
When we cannot use ‘unless’ in place of ‘if...not’
Unless cannot replace if not in a Type 1 sentence like
I’ll be surprised if he doesn't win.
This is because unless always means except on the condition that
so we cannot normally use it to refer to unreal situations:
She’d be better company if she didn't complainso much.
Unless is not used in most questions and when we talk about emotions:
If you don’t pass the test, what will you do?
I’ll be amazed if Christie doesn’t win.
When we cannot use ‘if...not’ in place of ‘unless’
We often use unlessin past references to introduce an afterthought
The unless-clause follows the main clause and is usually separated by
a dash rather than a comma:
/ couldn t have got to the meeting on time — unlessof course I had
caught an earlier train.
This means the speaker didn’t get to the meeting. He could only have
done so by catching an earlier train. If we use if notin place of
unlessin the above sentence we get
I couldn’t have got there if I hadn'tcaught an earlier train.
The sentence now conveys the exact opposite meaning the speaker
did get to the meeting because he did catch an earlier train [6; 289].
‘If’ and ‘unless’ clauses in short answers
Note how if-clauses and unless-clauses can occur in short answers:
-Will you help us with all this re-decorating?
- Yes, if I can. No, not unless you pay me.
7. Conjunctions that can sometimes be used in place of ‘if’
Conditionals can also be introduced by the following conjunctions,
which do not always have precisely the same meaning as if: as long
as, assuming (that), even if, if only, on (the) condition
(that), in case, provided/providing (that), so long as and unless; also
suppose (that)and supposing (that), which normally introduce
questions [10; 124]:
He’ll definitely win, even if (навіть якщо) he falls over.
They'll lend us their flat on (the) condition (that) (за умови, що) we look after it.
Suppose/Supposing (that) (припустимо, що) we miss the train what shall we do?
In case (“у випадку, якщо”) is used to show possible actions in the future:
I’ll cook plenty of potatoes in case they decide to stay for dinner.
In case they are late, we can always stay in the bar.
We’ll take some more warm clothes on holiday in case the weather changes.
In caseis also used to show that somebody did something in the past:
They prepared more vegetables in case there were vegetarians among the guests.
Unless(“якщо тільки не”, “якщо… не”, “хіба”, “окрім як”) is equal to if… not:
Unless the government agrees to give extra money, the theatre will have to close.
We’ll be late unless we leave now.
As long as, provided (that), providing (that)mean “якщо”, “хіба”, “поки”, “доки”:
Providing/Provided (that) (or So/As long as) you clear your desk
by this evening, you can have tomorrow off.
Provided (that) there is no opposition, we shall hold the meeting here.
What ifand Saycan be used in the sense of 'Let us suppose':
What if/Say he gets home before us and can't get in? What will he do?
What if/Say you were to run out of money7 What would you do?
We can abbreviate a condition if we begin a new sentence with If so,
In that case, orIf not; or if we continue with in which case:
He may be busy, in which case I'll call later
He may be busy. If so, (In that case,) I’ll call later. If not,
can I see him now7
Whether or notintroduces 'alternative' conditionals [6; 290]:
Whether I feel well or not on Monday, I’m going back to work
Whether or not I feel well on Monday, I'm going back to work
You'll have to put up with it, whether you like it or not