Page 112 - DENG101_Communication Skills-I

Unit 10: Kinds of Sentences

1. Unconditional Statement: These are the statements without any condition in them. Notes

Examples: 1. Marina plays the piano.
2. I think you will pass.
3. I have forgotten his name.

4. She asked which drink I preferred.
2. Conditional Statement: These are the statements with a condition(s) in a clause accompanied
by the main clause which shows the action.

The conditional statements are of three types:
(a) The open conditional statement.
(b) The hypothetical conditional statement.
(c) The unfulfilled hypothetical statement.

Let us understand each of them one by one

(a) The open conditional statement: This type of statement generally refers to a future event
which is conditional on another future event.
The verb of the conditional clause is in the simple present tense and the verb of the
main clause is in the future tense (usually with “will”).

Examples: 1. If I sleep too much, my eyelids become swollen.

2. My eyelids become swollen if I sleep too much.

3. Only if the entire team works fast, we’ll finish the work today.
4. We will not finish the work today if the entire team does not work fast.

5. We will not finish the work today unless the entire team works fast.

Occasionally, the open conditional statement describes a situation or an instance
which is dependent on another instance (given in the conditional clause). In this
case, both verbs are in the present tense.

Examples: 1. If I sleep well at night, I feel much relaxed in the morning.
2. If it rains, I enjoy it a lot.
Sometimes, if is replaced by when. If implies that the condition really is open and may

not be fulfi lled, while when implies that the condition will be fulfilled, that the event
will certainly take place.

Examples: 1. I will sing when you dance.

2. I shall have my lunch when the bell rings.
(b) The hypothetical conditional statement: The hypothetical conditional statement refers to
a possible future situation which depends on another possible future situation.
The verb of the main clause uses the present conditional tense (would + infi nitive, or
could + infi nitive) and the verb of the conditional clause normally uses the present
subjunctive. Sometimes, the conditional aspect of the statement can be emphasised
by using the form were + to + infi nitive.

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