jutfrank
VIP Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- England
- Current Location
- England
I can't find a compelling reason to use a second conditional here. What's wrong with a first conditional?
Ah. I think the fact you've used he might call me suggests that you actually want a real (first) conditional.
Who told you all this?
You need to get the situation clear in mind before proceeding. I'm not convinced you need to use a second conditional at all. Since you're talking about a real future possibility, your thought should better be expressed using a real conditional.
If, however, you really are set on presenting this as a mere hypothetical, I think you'd need to make this irrealis meaning clear. I might do it like this:
If John were hypothetically to stop being angry with me tomorrow, I can imagine that he would call me and that we would have a nice conversation.
*Note that there's a heavy stress on were.
*Note that 'stop being angry' is different in meaning from 'not be angry'. I've assumed you mean the former, since that's what you said in post #20.
A. If John weren't still angry with me tomorrow, he might call me, and then we would have a nice conversation.
Ah. I think the fact you've used he might call me suggests that you actually want a real (first) conditional.
I was told that sentence A wasn't okay
Who told you all this?
You need to get the situation clear in mind before proceeding. I'm not convinced you need to use a second conditional at all. Since you're talking about a real future possibility, your thought should better be expressed using a real conditional.
If, however, you really are set on presenting this as a mere hypothetical, I think you'd need to make this irrealis meaning clear. I might do it like this:
If John were hypothetically to stop being angry with me tomorrow, I can imagine that he would call me and that we would have a nice conversation.
*Note that there's a heavy stress on were.
*Note that 'stop being angry' is different in meaning from 'not be angry'. I've assumed you mean the former, since that's what you said in post #20.