conditional negative questions: if he has time, why doesn't he come?

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gimletful

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Hello,
i read a sentence today:
if he has time why doesn't he come?

i know that in zero conditional sentences, both "if" clause and main clause need to use present simple, but this sentence simply doesn't belong to zero conditional right?

later i checked about the first conditional, according to 1st conditional, it should be:
if he has time why won't he come?

so i am very confused, which one is right?
if he has time why doesn't he come?
if he has time why won't he come?

cheers
 

5jj

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'Zero conditional' is a label that is generally helpful to learneres. It does not prescribe unbreakable rules about tenses,

You can think of your two sentences in these terms:

1. If he has time why doesn't he come? You say that he has time. That being the case, why does he not come (at any time)?
2.a If he has time why won't he come? You say that he has time. That being the case, why does he refuse to come (at any time)?
2.b If he has time why eon't he come? You say that he has time. That being the case, why is his future not-coming a certainty?
 

Tarheel

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Bob: If he has time why won't he come?
Ted: He doesn't like you.
 

emsr2d2

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Hello.
I
read a the following sentence today:

If he has time, why doesn't he come?

I know that in zero conditional sentences, both the "if" clause and the main clause need to use the present simple, but this sentence simply doesn't belong to isn't a zero conditional, is it? right?

Later, I checked about on the first conditional, according to 1st conditional, and found that it should be:

If he has time, why won't he come?

so I am very confused. Which one is right?

1. If he has time, why doesn't he come?
2. If he has time, why won't he come?

Cheers.

Please note my multiple corrections above. You must always capitalise the first letter of every sentence and the pronoun "I".
 

Phaedrus

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i read a sentence today:
if he has time why doesn't he come?
It would be interesting to know the context of that sentence. In some contexts, it could be interpreted as a suggestion that he should come or perhaps that should be sent by those in charge of him. For example, if two managers were meeting to discuss whom to send with others who are about to go somewhere, the fact that "he" has time could be interpreted as a reason for sending him, so that the sentence would work in an analogous way to the second-person "Why don't you come?"
 
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