Use of Conditionals

Learning Target
1. Use past conditionals in expressing
arguments. EN9G-IIh-20; EN9G-IIi-20
 Informative Chart
Use of Conditionals in Arguments
 Kinds of Conditional Sentences

1. Possible / Factual Condition

• If I study well for the test, I will
pass.

Q1: What tense of the verb is used in the

dependent clause?
Q2: What tense of the verb is used in the
Independent clause?
Indicative Future Present Modals

Will Shall

Can May
 Kinds of Conditional Sentences

2. Habitual Condition
• If I am late again, Mrs. Cruz requires
my mother to accompany me to
school.
• Q1: What tense of the verb is used in the dependent clause?
• Q2: What tense of the verb is used in the independent clause?
• Q3: What word is used to indicate the habitual condition of the
sentence?
 Kinds of Conditional Sentences
3. Mathematical / Scientific Condition
• If one plus one is two then one plus two is
three. (mathematical)
• If you add salt to water, you produce saline
solution. (scientific)

• Q1: What tense of the verb is used in the dependent clause?

• Q2: What tense of the verb is used in the independent clause?
• Q3: What word is used to connect the clauses of the mathematical
condition of the sentence?
 Kinds of Conditional Sentences
4. Impossible / Contra-fact Condition
• If Mrs. Cruz were a witch, she would turn
you into a toad as punishment to your
offense.

• Q1: What tense of the verb is used in the dependent

clause?
• Q2: What tense of the verb is used in the independent
clause?
Subjunctive Future Past Modals

Would Should

Could Might
 Kinds of Conditional Sentences
5. Regretted Condition
• If the policemen had only arrived
early, the murderer could not have
killed the victim.
• Q1: What tense of the verb is used in the dependent clause?
• Q2: What tense of the verb is used in the independent clause?
• Q3: What word is used to indicate the regretted condition of the
sentence?
 Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
Conditionals, typically (though not always) expressed in
English as sentences of the form "If .................. ,
(then) .................. , state necessary and sufficient
conditions.
In a conditional so expressed, the clause that follows the
"if" is the antecedent; the other clause is the consequent.

The state of affairs described in the antecedent is asserted

to be a sufficient condition on the circumstance described in
the consequent.

To say that it is sufficient is just what it sounds like: it is to

say that it is enough, nothing more is required to guarantee
that the state of affairs described in the other clause
obtains.
#1
If someone is a mother then they're female.
If you know that someone is a mother (not just a parent)
that is enough to show that the person is female therefore
being a mother is a sufficient condition on being female.

It is not, however, a necessary condition on being female

since being a mother is not a requirement for being female:
you can be female without being a mother.
On the other hand, being female is necessary for being a
mother: if someone is not female they can't possibly be a
mother.
Thus, # 1 says that being a mother is a sufficient condition
on being female and being female is a necessary condition
on being a mother.
#2
If you study then you'll pass.
In general, for any conditional whatsoever, the antecedent is
a sufficient condition on the consequent and the consequent
is a necessary condition on the antecedent.
It clearly says that studying is sufficient for passing.
It's not so clear that it says passing is necessary for studying
and, in fact, it sounds peculiar because passing is something
that happens after you study and it seems odd to suggest
that the occurrence of a later event is necessary for the
occurrence of an earlier event.
How can it be that my ability to study now depends upon
something happening in the future, i.e. my passing?
If we strip away the causal and temporal connotations of (2)
it becomes more plausible to see passing as a necessary
condition on studying
#3
If you didn't pass then you couldn't have studied.

When one thing is necessary for another thing that means

that if you haven't got the first then you haven't got the
second.
Water, for example, is necessary for plant life: no water, no
plants.
Similarly, (3) says no pass conclusively shows no study;
hence that passing is necessary for studying.
In general, for any sentence of the form, “If P then Q,”
its contrapositive, “If not-Q then not-P,” is logically
equivalent to it.
Two sentences are logically equivalent if they necessarily
have the same truth value. (3) is the contra positive of (2),
in idiomatic English.
#4
For any integers x and y, xy  is odd if and only if both x  and y 
are odd.
Now there is a difference between necessary and sufficient conditions: in
(1), for example, being a mother is sufficient, but not necessary, for
being female while being female is necessary but not sufficient for being
a mother.
This isn't always so: sometimes one thing is both necessary and sufficient
for something else. Consider, for example, the following true proposition:

It says that the oddness of xy is both necessary and sufficient for the
oddness of both x  and y . You can think of statements of necessary and
sufficient conditions like (4) as, in effect, two way conditionals: each of
the conditions is necessary and sufficient for the other.
In fact it is extremely useful to think of them this way because in proving
propositions like (4) the standard strategy is to prove that the first
condition is sufficient for the second and then that the second is sufficient
for the first.
 Conditionals, Arguments and Inferences
Like arguments, conditionals may express inferences. Nevertheless, a conditional
by itself is not an argument. The difference is that when you put forth an
argument you commit yourself to the truth of all its parts--even if "only for the
sake of the argument." When you assert a conditional, however, you do not
commit yourself to the truth of either its antecedent or its consequent. Indeed,
the whole conditional can be true even if both its parts are false. Compare the
conditional and argument below:

# 5 If Michelle Bachmann is elected then I'll eat my hat.

# 6 Michelle Bachmann will be elected, therefore I will eat my hat.
Indeed, someone who asserts a conditional like (5) is convinced that neither the
antecedent nor the consequent is true--he is betting against bin Laden’s
surrender!
Conditionals, however, can figure as parts of arguments--as premises,
conclusions or both. The following are arguments, which contain conditionals:
# 7 If you study then you'll pass. If you pass then you'll graduate. Therefore if
you study you'll graduate.
# 8 If a number is even then it's divisible by 2 without a remainder. 4 is divisible
by 2 without a remainder. Therefore, 4 is even.
 Corresponding Conditional
For any given argument, the conditional that is formed by
taking the conjunction (the "and-ing") of its premises as the
antecedent and the conclusion of the argument as its
consequent is the corresponding conditional to that
argument.
For example, (9) below is an argument and (10) is its
corresponding conditional:
# 9 All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore,
Socrates is mortal.
# 10 If all men are mortal and Socrates is a man then
Socrates is mortal.
Notice that (9) is, intuitively, a valid argument: the premises
really "force" the conclusion in the sense that if they are true
then the conclusion must be true. Notice also that (10) is
necessarily true. In general, an argument is valid if and only
if its corresponding conditional is necessarily true.
 Third / Past Unreal Conditional
If + Subject + Past Perfect (positive or negative) + Objects,
Subject + Conditional Perfect (would have done, positive or
negative) + Objects
Examples:
If he had finished the work on time, we would have played a
round of golf yesterday afternoon.
If the meeting had been successful, we would have become
partners with Smith and Co.
The 'if' clause can also be placed at the end of the sentence.
In this case, no comma is required.

Examples:
They would have been very happy if he had passed the
exam.
Jane would have married Tom if he had asked her.
 Third Unreal Conditional with 'Wish'

'Wish' can also be used with the past perfect

to express a desired, unreal result in the
past.
Subject + Wish + Subject + Past
Perfect (positive or negative) + Objects

Examples:
I wish I had had more time to study when I
was young.
She wishes he had been promoted to CEO.
 Past Real Conditional
[If / When ... simple past ..., ... simple past ...]
[... simple past... if / when ... simple past ...]
The past real conditional describes what you used to do in
particular real-life situations. It suggests that your habits
have changed and you do not usually do these things today.

Examples:
If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I usually took a
bottle of wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore.
When I had a day off from work, I often went to the beach.
Now, I never get time off.
If the weather was nice, she often walked to work. Now,
she usually drives.
Jerry always helped me with my homework when
he had time. But he doesn't do that anymore.
 USED TO
The form "used to" expresses the idea that something was
an old habit that stopped in the past. This form is
commonly used in past real conditional sentences to
emphasize that something was a habit. The examples below
have the same meaning as the examples above.
Examples:
If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I used to take a
bottle of wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore.
When I had a day off from work, I used to go to the beach.
Now, I never get time off.
If the weather was nice, she used to walk to work. Now,
she usually drives.
Jerry used to help me with my homework when he had
time. But he doesn't do that anymore.
 IF / WHEN
Both "if" and "when" are used in the past real
conditional. Using "if" suggests that something
happened less frequently. Using "when" suggests
that something happened regularly.

Examples:
When I had a day off from work, I usually went to
the beach.
I regularly had days off from work.
If I had a day off from work, I usually went to the
beach.
I rarely had days off from work.