Let sentences connect!
During an introduction to political science class, I remember hearing a lecture stating that the three S’s – Sex, Screen, and Sports – make people foolish. It was mentioned that inept politicians often use these three S’s to divert the public’s attention elsewhere.
The 3S satisfy people’s desires and energize them. However, as with anything, where there is gain, there is also loss. If the enthusiasm for these exceeds moderation and reaches a level of obsession where interest outside the 3S is lost, it could lead to the dumbing down of the entire populace. The key is balance. If experiences in the 3S provide not only pleasure but also learning, it can be beneficial for both individuals’ futures and society.
Moreover, Sex and Sports are indispensable themes in movies, from which we can also learn. For instance, in the movie “Field Of Dreams” (1989) starring Kevin Costner, we learn the lesson to have dreams. Ray Kinsella, a 36-year-old average farmer living a simple life with his wife and daughter, hears an inexplicable voice while working in his cornfield saying,
“If you build it, they will come.”
Despite skepticism, Ray builds a baseball field. Despite being considered madness by others, he believes in and realizes his dream. The following conversation between Ray and his deceased father shows that building the baseball field was not just about ghosts but fulfilling his dream.
Ray Kinsella: Is there a heaven?
John Kinsella: Oh yeah. It’s the place where dreams come true.
“If” is a conjunction. It is the very conjunction that appears among the eight parts of speech, namely nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Conjunctions are broadly divided into coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions. Most of this has been mentioned several times in previous writings. To review, it can be summarized as follows.
| names | Purpose | conjunctions |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinating Conjunctions | Connect words, clauses, and sentences equally | for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so |
| Subordinating Conjunctions | Connect a subordinate clause to a main clause | because, if, although, since, until, and while |
| Correlative Conjunctions | Two or more words, including coordinating conjunctions, used in pairs | either/or, neither/nor, not only/ but also |
The conjunction “if” leads a subordinate clause with the meaning “if ~ then.” In some contexts, it can be thought of as a type of temporal adverbial clause led by “when.”
Tommy ‘Buns’ Bundy: “When it rains, people get wet. You know? Dawg, you’re the only one I got in my corner, man. Don’t cross me.” – Belly (1998)
Lucius Malfoy: “Well, put it this way. If it rains, you’ll be the first to know.” – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
However, “if” often includes hypothetical situations, assuming things that are not as though they were, making it a bit special. We call the adverbial clause led by “if” a conditional clause, and sentences containing “if” are referred to as conditional sentences. So, “if” represents the event and the reason, and the main clause is the result.
If it rains, you’ll be the first to know.
In Korean schools, conditional clauses with “if” are differentiated into present subjunctive, past subjunctive, and past perfect subjunctive based on the verb tense of the “if” clause. However, in English-speaking countries, they are most commonly categorized into zero conditional, first conditional, second conditional, third conditional, and mixed conditional, based on the verb tense and the meaning. Here, 0 to 3 can be thought of as the degree of remoteness from reality. For instance, 0 is reality, 1 is a possible reality, 2 is nearly impossible, and 3 is an absolutely impossible hypothesis.
If there is one principle concerning the tense of the subjunctive for if conditional clauses, it is that “time moves one step back.” Wishing for something that didn’t exist in the past to have existed, wanting something not present now to be as if it were, and speaking of something that might not exist in the future as if it does, it seems natural then that the tense of an if clause expressing speculation about the future or reality becomes present tense.
If the clause under “if” assumes the opposite of the present, it is expressed in past tense, and if it assumes the opposite of the past, it uses the “past perfect” tense.
Speculation about the future or reality: Present tense subjunctive
If + present tense, will + base form of the verb
Opposite assumption of the present: Past tense subjunctive:
If + past tense, would + base form of the verb
Opposite assumption of the past: Past perfect subjunctive:
If + past participle, would have + past participle
Let’s reduce the explanation and look for examples that fit here.
- Zero Conditional
The zero conditional is used when the time being referred to is now or always, and the situation is real and possible. Therefore, both the condition and result clauses use the simple present tense. It can be thought of as not involving a change in tense since it deals with reality. In zero conditional sentences, the word “if” can often be replaced by “when” without a change in meaning.
If it rains, people get wet.
When it rains, people get wet.
Let’s listen to what Maximus, the protagonist of <Gladiator>, says.
Maximus: You can help me. Whatever comes out of these gates, we’ve got a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? If we stay together we survive. <Gladiator>
Both the conditional clause (which includes “if”) and the main clause use verbs in the present tense. This is because such expressions do not involve situations or assumptions that are contrary to reality. The same applies to Lieutenant Colonel Slade’s philosophy on tango in “Scent of a Woman” and to the dialogue of Maria in “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life, simple, that’s what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, you just tango on…<Scent of a Woman, 1992>
María: If you do not love me, I love you enough for both…<FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, 1943>
2. Type 1 Conditional Sentences
Type 1 conditional sentences are used to refer to the present or future in cases where the situation is realistic. It’s a story that’s realistically possible but doesn’t currently exist. Thus, the verb in the if clause uses the present tense, which is one step back from the future. Meanwhile, the main clause, or the result clause, is in the future tense.
In the line from “Field of Dreams,” “If you build it, they will come,” the main clause uses a future tense verb, “They will come.” Therefore, semantically, the if clause should also be future. However, the if clause is expressed with a present tense verb.
FLO MARLOWE: Oh, hold me closer! Closer! Closer! DR. HUGO Z. HACKENBUSH: If I hold you any closer, I’ll be in back of you. <A DAY AT THE RACES, 1937>
Similarly, “I will be back of you” is in the future tense. If the same tense should be used to indicate the same time, then the if clause should be “If I will hold you.” However, the verb in the if clause is using the present tense, which is one step back from the tense of the main clause.
Let’s listen to the polite threat that Don Corleone, the godfather, makes to the people in the room to save his youngest son in the movie “The Godfather.”
Don Corleone: I’m a superstitious man. and if some unlucky accident should befall Michael – if he is to be shot in the head by a police officer, or be found hung dead in a jail cell… or if he should be struck by a bolt of lightning, then I’m going to blame some of the people in this room; and then I do not forgive. <The Godfather>
- Type 2 Conditional Sentences
Type 2 conditional sentences are used to refer to time that is now or anytime, and the situation is unrealistic. Naturally, it’s a situation that is opposite to reality. Therefore, even if the situation is in the present, the if clause uses a past tense verb. That’s why it seems they teach it as “past subjunctive” in school. Let’s listen to the following dialogue from “Rain Man,” where the doctor asks Ray.
Doctor: Ray, if you had a dollar and you spent fifty cents, how much would you have left over? <Rain Man>
You don’t have any money right now and you’ve never used this money before. Saying “If you spent 50 cents” presents a clear hypothetical scenario, opposite to your current situation. In these scenarios, the if clause employs a past tense verb.
Here’s another instance for clarity. The next quote comes from the lead character in Die Hard.
John McClane: Believe me, if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. But there’s not, so we’re doing it. <Live Free or Die Hard, 2007>
Currently, there is no one to take over the dangerous task the protagonist is undertaking. Saying “If there was somebody” indicates a hypothetical scenario that is the exact opposite of the current reality. Since there is no one now, imagining the past is necessary to change the present. In fact, in the subjunctive past, what’s more important is not the verb in the subordinate clause but the verb in the main clause. In Die Hard, John McClane says, “I would let them do it.” Although “would” is the past tense of “will,” which indicates the future, its use here does not refer to the past but expresses regret with the modal verb meaning “would have.”
In this way, using a modal verb that conveys speculation, like “would have,” in the main clause of a past subjunctive makes the expression more natural. Generalizing this a bit more, it can be summarized as <If + S + past tense verb (were…), S + past form of modal verb + base form of the verb>. The past form of the modal verb used in the main clause does not indicate past tense but expresses present forms of hope, expectation, or regret. Thus, it means that it can also be used in regular sentences, not just in subjunctive ones.
Neil: I mean, who would want a football or a baseball or… a car, if they could have a desk set as wonderful as this one? (Dead Poets Society)
would want’ is not just about wanting something; it includes the nuance of speculation, as in might want. What’s unique in the past subjunctive is that if you need to use the verb ‘be,’ you use ‘were’ regardless of the subject.
THE POLITICIAN: If it weren’t for graft, you’d get a very low type of people in politics. (THE GREAT McGINTY, 1940)
In the example above, it’s natural for the clause following “if” to be expressed with a past tense verb. However, it’s written as “it were” instead of “it was.” This is because the verb from the subjunctive mood, not the indicative mood, is used. We will revisit this in the next article, “May the Force be with you.”
- Type 3 Conditional Sentences
Type 3 conditional sentences are used to refer to a time in the past and to describe situations that are contrary to reality. These cases have zero connection to reality. Schools often call this the past perfect subjunctive. English uses the past perfect tense in the conditional clause and the conditional perfect in the result clause to express such situations. The conditional perfect refers to the form <modal verb in the past + have + past participle>. This type assumes something contrary to past facts, requiring a tense that steps back from the past, which ultimately needs to be the past perfect tense.
Therefore, generalized, this can be summarized as [If + subject + had + past participle, subject + modal verb in past + have + past participle]. Note that while the form had + past participle must always be used in the first part, the main clause following must be in the form have + past participle, indicating that the tense of the main clause precedes.
Congressman: Now Jim, people in my state keep asking why we’re continuing to fund this program now that we’ve beaten the Russians to the Moon. Jim Lovell: Imagine if Christopher Columbus had come back from the New World and no one returned in his footsteps. (Apollo 13)
In the example above, there is no result clause. It’s just suggesting to imagine. The next example, on the contrary, lacks an if clause. Yet, it still uses the conditional perfect form to convey the speculative meaning of “might have done.
TERRY MALLOY: You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. (ON THE WATERFRONT, 1954)
5. As if, unless etc.
Other conjunctions like “as if”, “unless”, and so on can also create expressions similar to conditional sentences. For example, “as if” or “as though” means “as if something is the case”, and “unless”, “providing” or “provided”, “suppose” or “supposing”, “though”, and “even though” are conjunctions that can be used. Below are some examples of such expressions.
John McClane: Yeah, I’m still here. Unless you wanna open the front door for me. <Die Hard, 1988>
Terence Mann: And they’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. <Field of Dreams>
John Keating: Now we all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular. <Dead Poets Society>
답글 남기기