Verb: the Category of Mood
" Lucky husband ! " said John.
4. If you should happen to meet a seer who could look into the future as well as into the past, you might let me know. If / had ever met such a person, / should have asked him to drop in and have a chat, long ago. For there are so many interesting questions that / could have asked him. For it seems to me that many of the events which have so influenced modern life might not have taken place, and that many of the advantages we now enjoy could never have been ours, had not certain men lived 'in certain countries at certain dates. For instance, unless there are financial or personal reasons to slop me, / can go to America if I want to. Do I owe this to Columbus and Isabella of Castile, or should I have been able to go even if these people had never seen the light? Again, it would be interesting to know what would have happened to Asia Minor and North Africa if Mahomed had never been born ; and whether the Greek Empire might have recovered from the decline that had set in or whether some other power would have hurried it on to its ruin and destruction.
If Luther had been a Dominican instead of an Augustinian, what a difference it might have made. The flower of the Renaissance need not have withered so soon in northern Europe ; Kant's philosophy might have taken a different direction ; Henry the Eighth might not have repudiated his first wife; and English thought might perhaps have been a little more logical. But in that case, we should not have had the charming destructiveness of Bernard Shaw, or the wild and beautiful expression of Shelly's spiritual hunger.If we had not taken Western ideas to Japan, need we have been worrying to-day about her expansion in the Far East ? Dared she have undertaken the Chinese adventure, if England and the U.S.A. had put, their foot down firmly in the beginning ?
Would I have had a vote to-day, if Rousseau had not written his " Social Contract," and if Voltaire had not blazed up in a white flame of anger at the injustices of his epoch ?
As for the Great War, could the Allies have been .successful, if Gettysburg had been lost instead of gained by the forces of the North ?
Who knows . . .? There are so many "ifs" in life!
B. THE USE OF THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
38. In a simple statement of cause and effect (par. 66), the verb which expresses the condition is either of the same tense as the verb that expresses the result, or one of the verbs is in the present tense, and the other is in the present perfect.
E.g.: If you mix glycerine with potassium permanganate, you get spontaneous combustion. If you live in London, you have learnt what fog is. If you have lived in Madrid, you know the Puerto del Sol. If one lived in London during the war, one had to do without many luxuries. If you have been in Rome, you have probably seen St. Peter's.
39. Where the possibility of fulfilling the condition is entertained, we express the residt by means of "shall" or " will", or by means of the imperative, or by means of any other suitable anomalous finite in the present tense. The condition can be expressed by means of any ordinary verb in the present tense.
E.g.: If I drink wine with my lunch to-day, / shall feel uncomfortable all afternoon. If you break your journey-in Paris, you will have time to see Notre Dame. If John studies hard, he may pass the exam. If you finish your work before six, you can go home. If you get the opportunity, you must meet her. If you go to London, you must visit the British Museum. If he comes here, you ought to refuse to see him. If he calls, tell him / am not at home. He will talk about religion, if he can get a listener. If you really are unwell, you had better go to bed. If he gives the order, / dare not obey it. If his father leaves him the money, he need not work any more. If you really are diabetic, you must not eat sugary food. If you cannot control your temper, you should not get into arguments.
40. If the fulfillment of the condition is considered less likely or less welcome than some other alternative, however," should" is used in the conditional clause. E.g., Should he refuse to do it, arrest him at once. Should the worst come to the worst, I can always leave the country. Should the crisis come, I shall be at my post.
41. When the fulfillment of the condition is considered rather unlikely, the condition is expressed by the preterit (q.v.) of any suitable verb ; and the result by means of " should," " would," " might," or " could ". E.g., If I drank wine with my lunch, / should be uncomfortable all afternoon. Provided / broke my journey in Paris, / could see Notre Dame. If she stood up to her husband, he would not bully her. He might be cured of his tuberculosis, on condition that he went to some place like Colorado.
42. Where the fulfillment of the condition is considered highly improbable, or impossible, the condition is expressed by means of the anomalous finite " were" in all three persons, followed by the infinitive with " to," or by a noun or pronoun complement. The result is expressed by " should," " would," " might," or " could " The use of "should" in the second and third persons strengthens the unreality of the supposition. E.g., Where should one finish, if one were to act in accordance with that criterion. If / were you, I should not do it. / could never forget it, were I to live to be a hundred. If he were to live in Paris, he might change his ideas about Frenchmen. / would help you, if / were able to. If / were rich, I could do a lot of things that I cannot do now.43. When the fulfillment of the condition depends on chance, we express the condition by means of "should" with an infinitive, in all three persons. The result is expressed by an infinitive preceded by the past or present tense of any of the anomalous finites except" will" and " would" in the meaning of custom or obstinacy, and " used to." The imperative can also be used. E.g., If you should see John, you may as well humor him. If / should come into a fortune, / might go on a trip round the world. If you should find the book, send it along to my house. If you should happen to hear from him before to¬morrow, you can telephone me. If you should hear any strange noise, you must telephone the police at once. If he should find himself in difficulties, he ought to be able to extricate himself easily. If you should be unable to finish the work in time, you had better ask Miss Smith to help you. If they should find the dog, they will let you know at once. If the lions should escape, they would be caught at once. If it should get dark before you arrive, you need not be afraid, as the roads are quite safe. I dare not think what / might do if he should get ill. / might do anything.