Verb: the Category of Mood

44. When the fulfillment of the condition depends on consent, " would" with an infinitive expresses the condition in all three persons (par. 21 (B)). The result is expressed by " should" " would," " might," or " could." E.g., / might understand you better, provided you would speak a little more slowly. / could not do it if / would. If he would show a little more good will. / would help him. If he would arrange the preliminaries, / could go on with the work alone.

45. Conditionals dependent on consent are often used incompletely in polite language.1 The result with " might" is also used alone, often indignantly. Could you send the parcel at once? I.e., Could you send the parcel now, if you would? You might get the letter written at once. I.e., You might write the letter now, if you would. You might at least be polite! You might wipe your feet before you come in! I had rather you did not go.

46. To indicate a past condition, which was not fulfilled, the condition is expressed by " had " or " could have " followed by a past participle; and the result is expressed by means of the perfect infinitive of any suitable verb, preceded by the past tense of any anomalous finite except "had better" "used to," and must (obligation). E.g., If / had told him that, he would have been angry. If the wireless operator had repaired his transmitter, the ship could have been saved. If you had received the order, you should have obeyed. If / had got your letter in time, / could have come. If he could have found a friend, he need not have starved. If he had been threatened with a pistol, he dare not have resisted. Had I known, I should have come. Could he have helped me, he would have done so. Had he lived, he was to have been Prime Minister.

463. The part of the sentence which expresses the condition can be introduced by one of the following conjunctions:

on condition that as long as provided providing

if if only suppose supposing

unless

Ex.: Unless John stops playing the fool, he will not be a success in life. Supposing everybody behaved like- that, what would become of the world ? As long as he continues obstinate, one cannot, do anything about it. She could get better, provided she took a little nourishment.

466. The conjunction introducing the condition is often omitted when the fulfilment of the condition is unlikely (par. 41); highly improbable or impossible (par. 42); or unwelcome (par. 40). It can also be omitted in sentences expressing a condition depending on chance (par. 43); or a past condition that was not fulfilled (par. 46).

In all these cases, the condition is introduced by an anomalous finite, followed immediately by its subject. E.g., Should he refuse to pay, see your solicitor? Did I know, I might tell you. Were he to live in Paris, he might change his ideas. Should you see John, ask 'him to ring you up. Had I told him, he would have been angry. Had I got your letter; I could have arranged the matter. There might be some possibility of my helping you, did I have the money.

C. EXERCISES ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES.

(a) Change Prose Passage (i) so as to convey that fulfillment of the conditions expressed is rather unlikely.

(b) Change Prose Passage (2) so that the sentences express past conditions unfulfilled.

(c) Change the following sentences, so as to indicate that the fulfillment of the" conditions given is unwelcome.E.g.: If people talk scandal in her presence, Mary tells them that they ought not to run down their friends and neighbors. If they take it badly and break off with her, Mary remains as cool as a cucumber. If they drop on her, she says, she has no need to worry. If they do not mind their p's and q's while they are with her, it is necessary for her to bring it home 'to them that they must not tear other people's characters to shreds. If they want to make innocent fun of other people, it is quite another matter. If they send her to Coventry as a result of her attitude, well and good. She can grin and bear it.

(d) Change the sentences in the following passage, so as to convey that the fulfillment of the conditions expressed is almost or completely impossible.

E.g.: If Solomon conies back to earth again, he will find everything changed, at least superficially, with the exception of the heart of man. He will notice, for instance, if he picks up a newspaper, that all men are still liars. Indeed, he will be enormously surprised if he finds any thing else to be the case. As he remarked some thousands of years ago, " That which is crooked cannot be made • straight." If he enters the divorce courts and listens to the divorce cases, he will find that model wives are as scarce as ever. And if anyone tells him with pride., that women can now be freed from bad husbands, he will murmur inconsequently, " Who can find a virtuous woman ? For her price is above rubies! " Should anybody ask him what he thinks of all the wonderful discoveries that have been made since his time, he will answer obstinately, " Is there anything whereof it may be said ' This is new ..." There is no new thing under the sun." But he will notice one new thing, just the same. He will observe, provided he gets the opportunity to mix with a few English families, that whereas in his day the women got their own way with their menfolk by diplomatically managing them, they now rule the poor males openly and brutally. And, unless he is more unobserving than I take him to be, he will draw consolation from the fact that a man need not, indeed cannot, any longer be saddled with a hundred shrewish wives at once, but can have them one at a time, if he is willing to spend sixty pounds or so in divorce expenses.

(e) Where possible, change the following sentences so as to convey that the conditions depend for their fulfilment either on chance or on consent.