Before making a move in chess, a player thinks about what will happen if he or she makes the move. The player does not actually make the move, but thinks about it instead. No move is made until the player considers several hypothetical moves and their consequences. That is, the player analyzes options and outcomes.
We express hypothetical situations with the preterit . This "past tense" verb form expresses distance or remoteness from reality rather than a past time frame. Hypothetical, unreal conditional, or irrealis indicates that an action or state is not a fact .
An open (real) conditional expression is often used to analyze options that are available. The speaker considers one action at a time and its outcome. Then, the person decides on the best course of action. "Under situation X, Y will occur." When an immediate answer is needed, a person is more likely to use an open (real) condition to express strategy.
The modal will or can is used in the main clause , and a present verb form is used in the clause after if.
If I move my pawn forward,
Under this condition,
I can take his bishop.
this will happen.
If I slide my rook away,
his queen will not take it.
If I check his king,
he will have to move it aside.
If he moves his king aside,
my knight will take it.
A remote (unreal) conditional is also used to examine options. The difference is that the speaker is distancing him/herself from the present reality ("irrealis"), as if the person were considering it from a separate space. Using a remote conditional does not mean that the person is less likely to make the move; it is more of a personal preference in expressing strategy.
The modal would, could or might is used in the main clause , and a preterit verb form is used in the clause after if .
If I moved my pawn forward,
I could take his bishop.
If I slid my rook out of the way,
his queen might not take it.
If I checked his king,
he would have to move it.
If he were lucky,
in order – for the purpose of, toward the goal of
Under the condition that X occurs, Y will happen
hypothetical (Adj) – assumed by hypothesis (theory); unreal conditions or situations
preterit (N) – a past tense verb form; past or past perfect
strategize [US-Engl] / develop a strategy [Br-Engl] (V) — make, create or think up a plan with a series of actions that will enable you to reach a goal.
strategy (N) – the process of planning out a series of actions to reach a goal, a desired end, success; adopt, employ or use a strategy — put the strategy (plan) into action.
"The remote construction differs in meaning from open in that it entertains the condition as being satisfied in a world which is potentially different from the actual world." (Huddleston 8 §14.2.1)
When the context of the open conditional requires a real world, immediate answer, hypothetical (remote) wording sounds odd: the more time-sensitive (urgent) the question, the less hypothetical the wording.
We use special verbs with if when we are talking about situations that we imagine; that is, things that probably will not happen. The unreal statement includes the preterit. The result clause includes a would or could modal form.
If I were/was a millionaire,
I would buy a private jet.
If I were/was a millionaire,
I could buy a private jet.
If I could choose anything,
I would buy a house.
If I could choose anything,
I would buy a house.
I could buy ¹ a house.
Were I a millionaire,
I could buy a house.
A negative is formed by placing not after the verb in the hypothetical clause or in the other clause. A question is formed by inverting the subject and auxiliary verb ( would or could ) in the result clause.
If I were/was a millionaire, (I am not)
I would n't travel on a commercial airline.
If I were n't /was n't a millionaire, (I am)
I would have to travel like everyone else.
If I could vacation anywhere,
I would n't stay here.
If you were a millionaire,
could you stop working?
If you could choose ,
would you move away?
¹ repeating could is awkward
irrealis (N) – indicates that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened as the speaker is talking; it is hypothetical, imaginary (in a distant reality).
preterit (N) – a past tense verb form; past or past perfect
was / were – We often use were instead of was after if . Both was and were are used in formal English, but only was is used in informal English. If I were you . Were is a subjunctive verb form.
A future hypothetical is expressed with be going (not will ) in the clause following if . Were going (formal) or was going (informal) is used for 1st and 3rd person singular.
The resulting imaginary action is expressed with would (pres. & future), would be -ing (progressive), would have (past), or would have been -ing (past progressive).
If it were going to rain soon,
(It will not actually rain later today.)
I would plan on walking the dogs afterward. future
I would walk the dogs later. future
I would be walking the dogs now. pres. progressive
I would have walked the dogs already. past
If we were going to attend a rock concert, (later today)
(We will not actually attend a concert later tonight.)
we would buy our tickets in advance. future
we would buy our tickets online. future
we would be getting ready now. present
we would have left already. past
A present hypothetical is also expressed with be going (not will ) in the clause following if . Were going (formal) or was going (informal) is used for 1st and 3rd person singular.
The resulting imaginary action is expressed with would (pres. & future), would be -ing (progressive), would have (past), or would have been -ing (past progressive).
If it were raining now,
(It is not actually raining now.)
I would plan on walking the dogs afterward. future
I would walk the dogs later. future
I would n't be walking the dogs now. pres. progressive
I would have brought the dogs inside already. past
If we were attending a rock concert now,
(We aren't actually attending a concert now.)
we would be in a good mood afterwards. future
we would be taking pictures. future
we would be singing along. present
we would have been seated already. past passive voice
if — heads an adjunct prepositional phrase that takes a clause (and a few other word forms) as its complement. The condition "clause" is actually a prepositional phrase (PP). Call me if you are ready. Call me if necessary. I rarely, if ever, call them. .
