[Grammar] Type three conditional sentence

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Supermonkey

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Hello Merry Christmas,

Can I ask a conditional sentence, please? I think it's type three.

Is my sentence correct below?

If I hadn't met Michelle, I might/would have not known how to make delicious dessert.

Thank you. :-D
 

riquecohen

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Hello Merry Christmas,

Can I ask a conditional sentence, please? I think it's type three.

Is my sentence correct below? No

If I hadn't met Michelle, I might/would have not known how to make delicious dessert.

Thank you. :-D
Try these.
If I hadn't met Michele, I wouldn't have known how to make this/that delicious dessert. (3rd conditional)
If I hadn't met Michele, I wouldn't know how to make this delicious dessert. (Mixed conditional)
 

TheParser

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If I hadn't met Michelle, I might/would have not known how to make delicious dessert.


NOT A TEACHER


(1) I think that your sentence is GREAT.

(a) You just might want to make three little changes:

(i) I would prefer "learned" rather than "known."

(ii) the position of "not": might/would not have learned ....

(iii) I think it should be desserts.

(2) IMHO, I think that your choice of modal also makes a difference:

(a) I might not have learned. = But if I had not met Michelle, there would have been the

possibility that someone else would have taught me.

(b) I would not have learned. = If I had not met Michelle, I would have never learned

to make delicious desserts. She was my only chance.
 

Supermonkey

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If I hadn't met Michelle, I might/would have not known how to make delicious dessert.


NOT A TEACHER


(1) I think that your sentence is GREAT.

(a) You just might want to make three little changes:

(i) I would prefer "learned" rather than "known."

(ii) the position of "not": might/would not have learned ....

(iii) I think it should be desserts.

(2) IMHO, I think that your choice of modal also makes a difference:

(a) I might not have learned. = But if I had not met Michelle, there would have been the

possibility that someone else would have taught me.

(b) I would not have learned. = If I had not met Michelle, I would have never learned

to make delicious desserts. She was my only chance.

Thanks for your explanations.

If I want to use salad instead of desserts , should I use plural too? salads?

cheers! :)
 

Supermonkey

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Try these.
If I hadn't met Michele, I wouldn't have known how to make this/that delicious dessert. (3rd conditional)
If I hadn't met Michele, I wouldn't know how to make this delicious dessert. (Mixed conditional)

Thank you for the mixed conditional. It's very complicated to me.

I remember my English teacher told me mixed conditional is usually with type three and type two. Mixing type one and type two are not common. (Or are not correct? I can't remember exactly.)

I am confused it all the time. For instance, If the sentences are correct below? (Type1+Type2)

If you are late again, I wouldn't be your friend any more. (I know he will definitely late, and I am kidding that we were not friends soon.)

If you won one million dollars, will you make a 20% donation? (If I use past tense in second sentence, will it mean the guy highly hasn't got the intention to donate?)

If you pouch the wall, you could break your bone. (He is going to punch, and I imagine it has the risk to break his hand.)

Thank you so much.
 

emsr2d2

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Thank you for the mixed conditional. It's very complicated to me.

I remember my English teacher told me mixed conditional is usually with type three and type two. Mixing type one and type two are not common. (Or are not correct? I can't remember exactly.)

I am confused it all the time. For instance, If the sentences are correct below? (Type1+Type2)

If you are late again, I wouldn't be your friend any more. (I know he will definitely late, and I am kidding that we were not friends soon.)
If you are late again, I won't be your friend any more.

If you won one million dollars, will you make a 20% donation? (If I use past tense in second sentence, will it mean the guy highly hasn't got the intention to donate?)
If you win one million dollars, will you make a 20% donation?
If you won one million dollars, would you make a 20% donation?


If you pouch the wall, you could break your bone. (He is going to punch, and I imagine it has the risk to break his hand.)
If you punch the wall, you could break your hand.

Thank you so much.

See above. Note that the verb you need in your final sentence is "punch".
 

TheParser

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If I want to use salad instead of desserts , should I use plural too? salads?

cheers! :)



Great question! Let's see what the teachers tell us. (We non-teachers are

warned NOT to answer unless we are confident.)
 

Supermonkey

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If you are late again, I wouldn't be your friend any more. (I know he will definitely late, and I am kidding that we were not friends soon.)
If you are late again, I won't be your friend any more.
I am confused. :shock:
The second sentence didn't use past tense. I remember type one is talking about something will happen, and type two is a kind of imagination. For example, If I were king, you should be queen.
Therefore, does it mean I won't be her/his friend if she/he is really late?


If you won one million dollars, will you make a 20% donation? (If I use past tense in second sentence, will it mean the guy highly hasn't got the intention to donate?)
If you win one million dollars, will you make a 20% donation?
If you won one million dollars, would you make a 20% donation?

If I use type one, does it mean the guy will probably win the game/lottery?

If you pouch the wall, you could break your bone. (He is going to punch, and I imagine it has the risk to break his hand.)
If you punch the wall, you could break your hand.
In this sentence, are they both type one?

Thank you so much. My questions are in green colours above. :oops:
 

5jj

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My advice would be: stop worrying about labelling. There aren't three (or four, or five) types of conditional sentence - there are more than fifty.

When we consider the verb in the if-clause, we are concerned with whether or not the hypothetical situation is presented as a real possibility (in which case there is no shifting of tense to a distanced/remote/'past' form) or whether it is presented as an unlikely/unreal possibility (in which case there is a shifting).

Once we have that part clear, then we can begin to think about the consequential clause, and how real that might be.
 

TheParser

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If I want to use salad instead of desserts , should I use plural too? salads?


If someone does not answer you soon, you might want to post this

question in a new thread.
 

emsr2d2

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If I want to use salad instead of desserts , should I use plural too? salads?

OK, OK, the salad question!!!!

"Salad" can be used as a collective term for lots of different salads but in answer to your question, you could use either but there would probably be a very slight difference in understanding:

If I hadn't met Michelle, I wouldn't be able to make delicious salad - This gives no indication of how many different types of salad you can make. You might only be able to make one basic green salad (lettuce, cucumber etc) OR you might be able to make lots of different salads which you have included in the generic term "salad".

If I hadn't met Michelle, I wouldn't be able to make delicious salads - It is clear that you can make more than one type of delicious salad. No ambiguity.
 
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