[Grammar] If you smoked in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers would object.

[Son Ho]

I have to put the verb in brackets in the correct form in sentence 1. I think sentence 2 means the subject "you" are smoking now or maybe "you" intend to smoke later. And sentence 3 means "you" aren't smoking now or don't intend to smoke. The problem is when I come across sentence 1 , I don't know what kind of the conditional I must use correctly.

1. If you ............(smoke) in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers ............. (object).
2. If you smoke in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers will object.
3. If you smoked in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers would object.

 

[5jj]

Both sentences are grammatical.

 

[jutfrank]

The writer of this question want you to use a first conditional there, so 2 is the right answer.

 

[5jj]

The writer of this question want you to use a first conditional there, so 2 is the right answer.

How do we know that?

 

[jutfrank]

How do we know that?

There's a feeling I get from years of writing and editing questions like this myself that the writer wanted to make a context for a real conditional, whether that's a zero or first. I'm not totally sure, however.

Son Hon, please help us out by telling us exactly what the task instruction was, what the grammar point is, where you saw this exercise, and whether there's any context. We can't help you if we don't know this information.

 

[Tdol]

However, people are much less likely to smoke today in a non-smoking compartment than before.

 

[Son Ho]

There's a feeling I get from years of writing and editing questions like this myself that the writer wanted to make a context for a real conditional, whether that's a zero or first. I'm not totally sure, however.

Son Hon, please help us out by telling us exactly what the task instruction was, what the grammar point is, where you saw this exercise, and whether there's any context. We can't help you if we don't know this information.

This is one of some sentences in an exercise book published for students in grade 10 in Vietnam. The instruction is putting verbs in correct forms. That's all. I think we must use the conditional 1 which is quite probable at present or in the future. Because it may make an suggestion. I have just read this in A Practical English Grammar by A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet.

 

[5jj]

There's a feeling I get from years of writing and editing questions like this myself that the writer wanted to make a context for a real conditional, whether that's a zero or first. I'm not totally sure, however.

Questions which require a student to guess what the writer wanted are poor questions, in my opinion. All of these are possible - at least they were in the days when there were smoking and non-smoking compartments:

1. If you smoke in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers object.
2. If you smoke in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers will object.
3. If you smoked in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers would object.
4. If you had smoked in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers would have objected.

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[5jj]

Warning: This post may be of interest, but only to more advanced learners.

Of the four sentences I noted, three at least can have more than one interpretation.

The three below could be what I call factual conditionals:

1. If you smoke in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers object.
2. If you smoke in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers will object.
3. If you smoked in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers would object.

They present what we may crudely call a general truth. If could be replaced by when(ever) with no major change in meaning. #1 and #2 are about universal situations, #3 about past-time situations. Note that will in #2 expresses certainty, not futurity.

#2 could also be a predictive conditional in which we are stating that the future [non-]occurrence or [non-]existence of an action or state is a consequence of some really possible prior action or state:

#3 could be a hypothetical conditional, in which we talk about a future possibility that is seen as more hypothetical, less likely.

#3 could be, and #4 (below is) a counterfactual conditional., in which we conjecture about the consequence of some imagined action or state that did or does not occur or exist. #3 is about present/general time, #4 past time.

1. If you had smoked in a non-smoking compartment, the other passengers would have objected.

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[jutfrank]

Questions which require a student to guess what the writer wanted are poor questions, in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong—I agree that this is a very poor question. The context is quite insufficient.