1) Would you please help me finish these clauses ?
a) If you were to give him a chance,
people would think you were very generous. b) If you were to fail,
I'd be shocked. c) Would it be possible to use the indicative “If you ARE …” in the above clauses ? What difference would it make?
If you were to = very unlikely
If you are to = if you are going to. 'Be to' is a more formal future form. 2) How can I make a polite request using “If + will or would”?
If you will / would ….
I would be grateful if you would send me the brochure at your earliest convenience. 3) What do you call the mood/tense (?) that follows “would” in the following sentences ?
a) If the Queen died, she would BE SUCCEEDED by her son Charles. (Bare infinitive + past participle ?)
b) If I were rich I would BE LYING in the sun on a tropical island. (Bare infinitive + present participle ??)
c) If it had rained yesterday, there wouldn’t HAVE BEEN many people on the sea shore. (perfect infinitive)
d) If I had not got married, I would still HAVE BEEN LIVING abroad. (perfect infinitive + present participle ??)
4) If our documents had been in order we could have left at once. (“could” here expresses ability or permission or both ?)
Both, but permission is the obvious one. 5) Why do we use the subjunctive in one sentence and the indicative in the other ?
a) If I WERE riding a bicycle I would be much happier.
(difference with “If I WAS riding a bicycle…”?)
b) If my car WAS working I could / would drive you to the station. (difference with “my car WERE working…”?)
You could use 'were' in b) 6) Do sentences a) + b) have the same meaning ?
No. The first means that he saw it in the past and can't remember it well. The second means he's seeing it now and won't be able to remember it well in the future. a) If he had been able to see it clearly, he would remember it better. (now)
b) If he could see it clearly, he would remember it better.
c) If he had been able to see it clearly, he would have remembered it better. (then)
7) a) Are the future and the conditional incompatible with the following expressions ?
unless, except if, provided/providing that, on condition that, as/so long as, suppose/supposing that, what if, in case, if only.
Usually b) would you please give me examples with “except if”?
It's like unless
c) Is it true that “unless” cannot be used in Type 2 conditional and in indirect questions?
What about
: “I would not attempt … (what can I say here ?) unless I were sure of succeeding.” ?
Your example shows that it is not an absolute rule. However, it is not used much in Conditional 2 senetences.
