Running Head: CHAPTER SYNOPSIS 1

Chapter Synopsis

Yini Chen

Colorado State University

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Introduction

In this paper, I summarize the grammar points from Chapter 27 Conditionals of The

Grammar Book: Form, Meaning, and Use for English Language Teachers (Celce-Murcia &

Larsen-Freeman, 1999). According to the introduction of the chapter, conditionals are the fifth

most serious problem in learning English grammar. The authors explain that conditionals are

difficult to teach for the following reasons:

a) A conditional sentence consists of a subordinate clause and a main clause. Thus, the

grammatical structure of conditional sentences is more complex than that of other

grammatical sentences.

b) The semantics of conditionals are not easy to notice and understand.

c) There are many prerequisites for ESL/EFL students to be able to use all kinds of

conditionals correctly, such as students need to master the tense-aspect system, the modal

auxiliaries, and negation.

d) In many ESL/EFL grammar textbooks or reference books, the knowledge of conditionals

is too simple. Most grammar books only introduce the three types of conditional

sentences: future conditional, present conditional, and past conditional. However, there

are more than three kinds of conditional sentences that students hear or read. In addition,

these three types of conditional sentences do not include the most common or simplest

conditional sentences in English (i.e., If you boil water, it vaporizes.).

e) It is often difficult for the students who have studied the past tense to understand why the

past tense in present conditional sentences refers to the present, not the past time (i.e., If I

had the money, I would take a vocation.).

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This chapter provides a more comprehensive explanation of conditionals, which may help

ESL/EFL teachers better understand this topic.

The Form of Conditionals

Conditional sentences express the dependency of one set of circumstances on another set

of circumstances. The structure of a conditional sentence is “a main clause + a subordinate

clause”, and the subordinate clause with if is the most typical. "If" clause shows conditional and

the main clause gives the result. The main clause in conditionals usually appears in the form of

statement, and sometimes it appears as a form of an interrogative or an imperative sentence

(especially in conversation). In most cases, the order of two clauses can be changed; however,

when the word then is used in the main clause, the main clause with then cannot be placed in the

initial position (i.e., If I go, then George will go.).

In hypothetical conditionals, when the auxiliary verbs such as should, had, or were are

included in the subordinate clause, if can be omitted. However, in this case, we should notice a

subject/operator inversion problem (i.e., If the guests should arrive early, no one will be here to

greet them. = Should the guest arrive early, no one will be here to great them.). In addition,

certain pro-forms can replace the entire clause. When you want to express affirmative meaning,

use “if so”. If you want to express a negative meaning, use “if not”. For example:

Would you like to make a class presentation?

> If so, volunteer.

> If not, you don’t have to.

The following sentence structure has the same function as a conditional:

a) wh- + (ever) sentences (i.e., Whatever she says, don’t believe it.)
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b) imperative + or/otherwise (i.e., Finish your meal, or/otherwise there’s no dessert for

you.)

c) imperative + and (i.e., Do that again, and I’ll get very angry.)

d) inclusive imperative with no conjunction, just juxtaposition (i.e., Let’s not be late. They’ll

leave without you.)

e) generic relative clauses (i.e., A car gives good mileage saves the driver a lot of money.)

Moreover, remember some formulaic expressions are help for improving ESL/EFL

students’ English oral skills (i.e., If I may…; If it’ll help…; If it’s not rude to ask...), because they

are very useful for conversational purposes.

The Meaning of Conditionals: A Semantic Overview

Conditional sentences in English express three different kinds of semantic relationships.

The first are factual conditional sentences, which are the most common in English. Factual

conditional sentences are composed of the following four types:

a) Generic Factual Conditionals - Generic factual conditionals express true and unchanging

relationships (scientific facts). Since generic factual conditionals express facts that will

not change, the two clauses are usually presented in simple present tense; however,

generic factual conditionals occasionally refer to past events and take the verb form of the

past tense. Thus, the sentence structure of generic factual conditionals can be the

following two types：

> If + simple present, simple present

> If + simple past, simple past

b) Habitual Factual Conditionals - Like generic factual conditionals, habitual factual

conditionals express a relationship that no time-bound. However, this relationship is based on

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habit rather than scientific facts. The sentence structure of habitual factual conditionals is as

follows:

> If + simple present, simple present

> If + simple past, simple past / If + simple past, would

c) Implicit Inference Factual Conditionals - Implicit inference is an inference about a

specific time-bound relationship. Although the scope of the tenses and auxiliary verbs used in the

implicit inference conditional is wide, it still tends to use the same tense or modal in both

clauses. Here is the sentence structure of the implicit inference conditionals:

> If + tense or modal, same tense or modal

d) Explicit Inference Factual Conditionals - Explicit inference factual conditionals are the

only case that we do not find the common parallelism of tense, aspect, or modal in two clauses.

In explicit inference factual conditionals, the result clause has an inferential modal (i.e., must,

should). The sentence structure of explicit inference factual conditionals is as follows：

> If + simple present or past, modal (must or should) (+ perfect aspect, if past time)

The second is future (or predictive) conditional sentences. Future conditional sentences

are divided into two types.

a) Strong Condition and Result - These kinds of sentences express future plans or something

that might happen in the future, the sentence structure is as follow:

> If + simple present, will/be going to

b) Weakness Condition or Result - In this kind of conditional sentences, the content of the

result clause is not entirely certain. Therefore, it usually uses may, might, or should

instead of will or be going to.

> weakened condition: If + should/happen to/should happen to, will/be going to

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> weakened result: If + simple present, future modal other than will/be going to (may,

might should)

The third are Imaginative Conditional sentences which have two subtypes ——

hypotheticals and counterfactuals.

a) Hypothetical Conditionals - Hypothetical conditionals express that what the speaker

believes is unrealized or impossible, but theoretically possible.

> If + simple past, would/could/might

> If + were to, would/could/might

b) Counterfactual Conditionals - Counterfactual conditionals are used to express what is

impossible in the present or past, but it is not used to express future events.

> present time: If + simple past, would / If + present subjunctive, would

> past time: If + past perfect, would + perfect aspect

The Frequency of Conditional Constructions

According to the table on page 590 (see appendix A), present tense factual conditionals

(i.e., If + pres., pres.) have the highest usage rates in both spoken and written English. The

second most frequent occurrence are future conditional sentences. The structure of future

conditional sentences has evolved from the structure of present tense factual conditionals. Thus,

the authors claim that according to the process of the evolution of conditionals, teachers should

first explain present tense factual conditionals when teaching conditionals.

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The Uses of Conditional Sentences

In conditionals as a whole, sentences with initial if clauses account for almost 80 percent.

These kinds of sentences have four functions in both oral and written discourse. They are a)

proposing options for future scenarios; b) introducing contrasts; c) providing examples following

generalizations; and d) making inferences based on previously mentioned assumptions.

In oral English communication, initial if clauses are mainly used in the following

situations: a) in polite directives (i.e., tour guide: If you look out the left side, you’ll see Mann’s

Chinese Theater. You’ll have a chance to walk back there and take photos in a few minutes.); b)

in polite requests (i.e., If you could just have your attention for a moment…); c) to speak

humorously or sarcastically (i.e., If he’s a Rhodes Scholar, then I’m Albert Einstein!); d) offer

(i.e., If you can help you in any way, just let me know.); e) command (i.e., If you’re not here to

help, please leave!); f) apology (i.e., If I’ve unintentionally offended you, I’m very sorry.); g)

evaluation (i.e., If you get backaches all the time, it’s probably because you’ve got bad posture.);

and h) warning (i.e., Unless the flow of drugs across the border is stopped, the cartels will

continue their criminal activities.).

In addition, sentence-final if clauses accounted for 23 percent of conditionals. Usually,

sentence-final if clauses function as afterthoughts or reminders. This sentence pattern generally

appears in the following three situations:

a) When a conditional clause appears in complements, nominalizations, infinitives or

relative clauses.

b) When English speakers want to introduce strong arguments or interesting topics in the

main clause.

c) When the sentence is long and involves an if clause.

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Thus, in conditional sentences, if in different positions (initial or final) will express

different meanings, and English learners need to distinguish it clearly.

Conclusion

Conditional sentences in English are used in many cases. In particular, conditionals are

used frequently in English oral communication. The chapter comprehensively explains the

various points of conditionals in the English language and how to use them in various contexts.

Conditionals are an important topic for English teachers to include when teaching L2 learners.

When teaching conditionals, teachers must ensure that students master the structure and

semantics of conditional sentences at the same time. If English teachers could create or provide

more opportunities to practice and use conditionals in realistic contexts, it might be helpful for

ESL/EFL learners to master this grammatical topic.

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Reference

Celce-Murcia, M. & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The Grammar Book: Form, Meaning, and Use

for English Language Teachers. Boston, MA: Heinle Centgage Learning.

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Appendix A

A FREQUENCY RANKING OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCE TYPES

Structure This Book’s Speech (266 Ranking Writing (948 Ranking
Terminology conditionals) conditionals)
A: If + pres., pres. generic factual 51 (19.2%) 1 156 (16.5%) 1
B: If + pres., future 29 (10.9%) 2 118 (12.5%) 2
will/be going to (predictive)
C: If + past, present 27 (10.2%) 3 95 (10%) 4
would/might/could hypothetical or
counterfactual
D: If + pres., explicit 24 (9%) 4 114 (12.1%) 3
should, must, can, inference factual
may or future with
weakened result
E: If + were/were present or future 23 (8.6%) 5 57 (6%) 6
to, hypothetical or
would/could/might present
+ have counterfactual
F: If + had + -en/ past 10 (3.8%) 6 31 (3.3%) 7
have + -en, would/ counterfactual
could/might
G: If + pres., future with 7 (2.6%) 7 58 (6.1%) 5
would/could/might weakened result