Reference · module 20
If
Everything this module explains, on one page.
If it rains, I'll stay
Talk about a real possibility and its result.
- If it rains, I'll stay at home. The if half takes the PRESENT even though it is about the future — the same rule as after when.
- The other half takes will. If it rains, I will stay. Never if it will rain: that is the single most common conditional mistake.
- Either half can come first, and the comma follows the if half: If it rains, I'll stay. I'll stay if it rains — no comma there.
The mistake you are about to make
If it will rain, I'll stay at home.
If it rains, I'll stay at home.
Both halves are about the future, so will goes into both. After if English uses the present, exactly as it does after when.
If I had time, I would
Talk about something imaginary.
- If I had more time, I would learn Chinese. The if half goes into the PAST, even though it is not about the past at all.
- The past form here means unreal, not earlier. It is the same trick every European language plays and it still surprises people.
- The other half takes would. And with be, the traditional form is were for everybody: If I were you. If I was you is common and less formal.
The mistake you are about to make
If I would have time, I would learn Chinese.
If I had time, I'd learn Chinese.
Both halves are unreal, so would wants to mark both. English puts would in the second half only; the if half takes a past form.
Things that are always true
State a rule or a fact with if.
- If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils. Both halves are in the present, because this is always true and has no particular occasion.
- Here if and when mean the same thing: When you heat water, it boils. For a fact, either word works and nothing changes.
- It is also the shape of instructions: If the light is red, press the button. Manuals and recipes are full of it.
The mistake you are about to make
If you heat water, it will boil.
If you heat water, it boils.
Will carries over from the first conditional out of habit. A general truth takes the present in both halves, because it is not about one occasion.
I wish
Say what you would like to be different.
- I wish I had more time. The past after wish means the same as the past after if: not earlier, but not real.
- It is about now, not about the past: I wish I knew the answer means I do not know it at this moment.
- With be, were again: I wish I were taller. And with ability: I wish I could sing. could is the past of can and works the same way.
The mistake you are about to make
I wish I have more time.
I wish I had more time.
The sentence is about now, so the present looks right. After wish the past form means unreal rather than earlier.