# If I had ... I would (conditional sentences)



## DearPrudence

Hello,

I’d like to know what tenses you use in a conditional sentence (especially the "if" clause). It’ll be clearer with an example.

*English*:
If I *had* money, I *would buy* a house.
if + preterit / conditional

*French*:
Si j’*avais* de l’argent, j’*achèterais* une maison.
si + imperfect / conditional

*Spanish*:
Si *tuviera* dinero, *compraría* una casa.
si + imperfect subjunctive / conditional

…

I must admit I’m particularly interested in Romance languages and Germanic languages first 

Thanks!


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## Outsider

*Portuguese:
*
Se *tivesse* dinheiro, *compraria* uma casa.
se + imperfect subjunctive / conditional

This is standard, but, especially in Portugal, a common variant is:

Se *tivesse* dinheiro, *comprava* uma casa.
se + imperfect subjunctive / imperfect indicative

Another possibility, which I would say is substandard, but sometimes heard:

Se *tinha* dinheiro,* comprava *uma casa.
se + imperfect indicative / imperfect indicative



DearPrudence said:


> *English*:
> If I *had* money, I *would buy* a house.
> if + preterit / conditional


In the case of English, it's debatable whether the first verb comes in the preterit or the past subjunctive. Ordinarily the two are the same, but remember the exception of the verb "to be":

If I *were* rich, I would buy a house.


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## DearPrudence

Thanks, Outsider 

Yes, I was aware of the "if I were" thing but really wanted to avoid it because I was afraid people would "hijack" the thread and debate on what to call that in English  

(also, in French, some people say:
"Si j'*aurais* de l'argent, j'achèterais une maison" (If I* would have* money,...) and it always drives me up the wall: I don't understand why they would do that!!)


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## CapnPrep

DearPrudence said:


> (also, in French, some people say:
> "Si j'*aurais* de l'argent, j'achèterais une maison" (If I* would have* money,...) and it always drives me up the wall: I don't understand why they would do that!!)


People also say this in English, and it's probably for the same reason: It's easier and it makes quite a lot of sense to use the same verb form in both clauses. That's how it was in Latin, and that's how it is in many modern languages (I predict that we are about to see some examples…) The same tendency can be seen in French examples like _si j'eusse eu…, j'eusse acheté_…, which is super-correct and doesn't drive anybody anywhere.


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## sakvaka

*Italian:* _Se io avessi soldi, comprerei una casa._ (native opinions wanted!)

That is, subjunctive imperfect + conditional present. _Se io avrei soldi, comprerei una casa_ is, as far as I know, considered wrong in standard language.

I knew you didn't ask anything about Finnish and Swedish, but here they are. 

*Finnish*: _Jos minulla olisi rahaa, ostaisin talon. (conditional present in both clauses)
_*Swedish*:_ Om jag hade pengar, skulle jag köpa hus.  (imperfect + conditional present)
_


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## Rallino

sakvaka said:


> [...]
> 
> I knew you didn't ask anything about Finnish and Swedish, but here they are.
> [...]
> *Swedish*:_ Om jag hade pengar, skulle jag köpa hus.  (imperfect + conditional present)
> _



Well, Swedish is a Germanic Language, so it's on the list of requested languages. 

*Norwegian* has the same logic:

Hvis jeg hadde penger, ville jeg kjøpe et hus. (imperfect/preterit + conditional present)


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*
Turkish *has two ways to convey the conditionals of unreal present. Both mean the same thing, and are equally used.

Param olsa, ev alırım. (Pure conditional + aorist)
Param olsa, ev alırdım. (Pure conditional + aorist past)


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## Orlin

> If I *had* money, I *would buy* a house.


Bulgarian: Ако *имах* пари, *бих купил *къща. (imperfect + conditional)
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Da *imam* novca, *kupio bih *kuću. (present + conditional)
Russian: Если *бы* у меня *было* денег, я *купил бы *дом. (conditional + conditional)


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

«Αν *είχα* χρήματα, *θα αγόραζα* σπίτι»
/an 'ixa 'xrimata θa a'ɣoraza 'spiti/
lit. "If I *had* money, I *will was buying* a house"
If + preterite / future particle + imperfective past (conditional)


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## Rallino

apmoy70 said:


> In Greek:
> 
> «Αν *είχα* χρήματα, *θα αγόραζα* σπίτι»
> /an 'ixa 'xrimata θa a'ɣoraza 'spiti/
> lit. "If I *had* money, I *will bought* a house"
> If + preterite / future particle + imperfective past (conditional)



Isn't it παρατατικό ? _I will *was buying*_, am I wrong? Thanks in advance.


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## Frank78

DearPrudence said:


> *English*:
> If I *had* money, I *would buy* a house.
> if + preterit / conditinal



Wenn ich Geld *hätte*, *würde* ich ein Haus *kaufen*.
_wenn (or: falls) + Konjunktiv II / würde + infinitive
_
Konjunktiv is a seperate verb form (but formed from the stem of the past verb, in this case: h*a*tte) and not a tense. It's one of the three moods indicative, imperative and subjunctive (Konjunktiv).

In spoken language lots of people use two times "würde + infinitive":
Wenn ich Geld *haben würde*, *würde* ich ein Haus *kaufen*.


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## apmoy70

Rallino said:


> Isn't it παρατατικό ? _I will *was buying*_, am I wrong? Thanks in advance.


Yes Rallino, you are quite right, I edited it, thanks


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## bibax

> (also, in French, some people say:
> "Si j'aurais de l'argent, j'achèterais une maison" (If I would have money,...) and it always drives me up the wall: I don't understand why they would do that!!)


It reminds me of the famous quote:

_"Si j'*aurais* su, j'aurais pas venu"_ (Little Gibus) - correctly "Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venu".


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## bibax

Czech has two conditionals - present and past.

So there are four variants of the given sentence:

1. if _present conditional, present conditional_ (the commonest variant) 
2. if _past conditional, past conditional_ (less common)
3. if _past conditional, present conditional_ (less common, hardly useful for the given sentence)
4. if _present conditional, past conditional_ (quite nonsensical)

1. Kdy*bych měl* peníze, *koupil bych *(si) dům. ... _in the present_
2. Kdy*bych byl měl* peníze, *byl bych *(si)* koupil* dům. ... _in the past_
(3. Kdybych byl měl peníze, koupil bych (si) dům.)
(4. Kdybych měl peníze, byl bych (si) koupil dům.)

The Czech (present) conditional is formed by the aorist of the auxiliary verb _to be_ (*bych, bys, by, bychom, byste, by* - the only aorist preserved in Czech) and the past participle (l-participle): já *bych koupil* (= I should buy).


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## Arath

In Bulgarian we have quite a few conditionals (present probable, present improbable, two past improbables, zero present, zero past, and we could have all of these both in the indicative and renarrative mood), so I'm just going to give the translation of the example you've given:

(present improbable)
If I *had* money, I *would buy* a house:

Indicative mood:
Ако *имах* пари, *щях да си купя* къща. (*Past imperfect* in the if-clause, *future in the past* in the other clause). This means: "If I had money, I would definitely buy a house".

Ако *имах* пари, *бих си купил* къща. (*Past imperfect* in the if-clause and *conditional mood* in the main clause). This means: "If I had money, I would consider the possibility of buying a house".

Renarrative mood:
Ако *имал* пари, *щял да си купи* къща. (*Past/Present renarrative* in the if-clause, *future/future in the past renarrative* in the main clause). This means both "If he had money, he would buy a house" and "If he has money, he will buy a house". The conditional mood doesn't have a renarrative equivalent.


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## ThomasK

Dutch: in principle as in French:

Als ik rijk *was *(past tense), *zou *ik het kopen (conditional). 

But there is ample room for variations:

Als ik rijk *zou zijn, zou *ik het kopen ( 2 x conditional). 
Als ik rijk *was, kocht *ik het (2 x past)

Maybe our northern neighbours, the Dutch, are stricter though.


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## kloie

In estonian Kui mul oleks raha,siis ma ostaksin omale maja=If i had money,I would buy a house


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## Orlin

Arath said:


> In Bulgarian we have quite a few conditionals (present probable, present improbable, two past improbables, zero present, zero past, and we could have all of these both in the indicative and renarrative mood), so I'm just going to give the translation of the example you've given:
> 
> (present improbable)
> If I *had* money, I *would buy* a house:
> 
> Indicative mood:
> Ако *имах* пари, *щях да си купя* къща. (*Past imperfect* in the if-clause, *future in the past* in the other clause). This means: "If I had money, I would definitely buy a house".
> 
> Ако *имах* пари, *бих си купил* къща. (*Past imperfect* in the if-clause and *conditional mood* in the main clause). This means: "If I had money, I would consider the possibility of buying a house".
> 
> Renarrative mood:
> Ако *имал* пари, *щял да си купи* къща. (*Past/Present renarrative* in the if-clause, *future/future in the past renarrative* in the main clause). This means both "If he had money, he would buy a house" and "If he has money, he will buy a house". The conditional mood doesn't have a renarrative equivalent.


About Bulgarian see this thread of mine.


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## Istriano

In Castillian Spanish I hear this a lot:

_De tener dinero, (me) compraba una casa._


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## itreius

Orlin said:


> Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Da *imam* novca, *kupio bih *kuću. (present + conditional)


Also,

Kad *bih imao* novca, *kupio bih* kuću.

less formal:

Kad bih imao _love_, kupio bih kuću.

dialectal and archaic:

Če *bi (naj) imel* peneze, *kupil bi* hižu.


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## Orlin

itreius said:


> Also,
> 
> Kad *bih imao* novca, *kupio bih* kuću.
> 
> less formal:
> 
> Kad bih imao _love_, kupio bih kuću.
> 
> dialectal and archaic:
> 
> Če *bi (naj) imel* peneze, *kupil bi* hižu.
> New thread with a question about this phrase.


For BCS see this thread.


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## ThomasK

But it would be interesting to hear what forms all those contain: conditional or past or ... ? (Thanks)


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## Istriano

If I *would have *money, I *would buy* a house.
Si *tendría *dinero, me *compraría* una casa.





> Conditional _would _is sometimes used in both clauses of an if-sentences. This is very informal, and is not usually written. It is common in spoken American English:
> _It would be good if we'd get some rain.
> How would be feel if this would happen to our family?_



Practical English Usage (3rd edition) by M. Swan



> Debe evitarse el uso en la prótasis del condicional simple o  pospretérito, propio de hablantes españoles del País Vasco y zonas  limítrofes como Navarra, Burgos, Cantabria y La Rioja, y que también se  da en algunas zonas de América:_Si tendría dinero, me compraría un coche_.



(DPD, RAE)


Note the difference in tone: descriptive by the English, and prescriptive by the Spanish for the same phenomenon.


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## ThomasK

Somehow there is some kind of link between conditional and past, but it is not clear to me which! ;-)


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