Future conditional

[Ryan.]

Hello,

If you want to discuss a probability in the future how do you express it. For example, assume that Alex has a contract with a club and Ben, the manager of another club, wants to sign him. What tense should be used for this purpose? The only sentence I can think of, is the one below.

" Alex: I have a contract with my club until the next year. By that time, I will try very hard to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you were interested in signing me then."

Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

That sounds good to me, Ryan.

 

[Ryan.]

That sounds good to me, Ryan.

Thank you Rover_KE. Could you please tell me your opinion about the sentence below:

" Alex: I have a contract with my club until the next year. By that time, I will try very hard to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, if you would be interested in signing me then"

 

[emsr2d2]

Your original sentenced sounded OK to me too. I was going to suggest "... if you were to be interested in signing me then" as an alternative. Your latest suggestion is also acceptable although it doesn't sound quite as natural.

 

[Ryan.]

Thanks you all. Could you please rate the following sentences in terms of being natural and idiomatic to express what I wrote in post #1?

A- Alex: "I have a contract with my club until the next year. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you were interested in signing me then."

B- Alex: "I have a contract with my club until the next year. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you are interested in signing me then."

C- Alex: "I have a contract with my club until the next year. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you would be interested in signing me then."

D- Alex: "I have a contract with my club until the next year. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you were to be interested in signing me then."

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

The first thing you need to do is remove "the" from before "next year. "I am under contract with my current club until next year" (it would be helpful to tell them which month).

 

[Ryan.]

Thanks for the correction.

The first thing you need to do is remove "the" from before "next year. "I am under contract with my current club until next year" (it would be helpful to tell them which month).

Could you please rate the following sentences in terms of being natural and idiomatic to express what I wrote in post #1?

A- Alex: "I am under contract with my current club until next January. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you were interested in signing me then."

B- Alex: "I am under contract with my current club until next January. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you are interested in signing me then."

C- Alex: "I am under contract with my current club until next January. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you would be interested in signing me then."

D- Alex: "I am under contract with my current club until next January. By that time, I will try to improve my abilities and it would be an honor to play for you, If you were to be interested in signing me then."

 

[emsr2d2]

If you're really trying to get a contract with a new club, I would try to sound more positive about your skills than "By then, I will try to improve my abilities". I suggest you tell them that by the time your contract is up for renewal, you will have improved significantly. In addition, we don't really improve our abilities. An ability is generally something we are naturally able to do. We can improve on how we do it, but we don't improve the ability itself.

 

[Ryan.]

If you're really trying to get a contract with a new club, I would try to sound more positive about your skills than "By then, I will try to improve my abilities". I suggest you tell them that by the time your contract is up for renewal, you will have improved significantly. In addition, we don't really improve our abilities. An ability is generally something we are naturally able to do. We can improve on how we do it, but we don't improve the ability itself.

Thanks for the answer. Actually, these are the sentences I wrote, to understand what type of structures native English speakers would prefer to use to discuss a probability in a certain time in the future.

 

[emsr2d2]

I realise that but there is no reason to leave them as unnatural sentences.

 

[Ryan.]

I realise that but there is no reason to leave them as unnatural sentences.

Could you please tell me which of the sentences in the post #7, you would personally prefer to use other than the sentence "D"?

 

[emsr2d2]

I find them all acceptable as far as the future is concerned. A and D would be my equal first choices, then B and lastly, C. You need to remove the capital "i" from "if" too.