T2-a Select verb tenses carefully in main clauses and conditional clauses.
T2-a Select verb tenses carefully in main clauses and conditional clauses.
independent (main) clause A word group with a subject and a predicate that can stand alone as a separate sentence.
Conditional clauses beginning with if or unless generally indicate that one thing causes another (a factual relationship); predict future outcomes or possibilities; or speculate about the past, present, or future, or impossible events or circumstances.
Change both verbs to the same tense to express general or specific truths or actions that happen together habitually.
Change the verb in the main clause to the future and the verb in the conditional clause to the present to express future possibilities or predictions.
base form The uninflected form of a verb: I eat; to play.
To speculate about events or conditions that are unreal, improbable, or contrary to fact, change the verb in the main clause to would, could, or might plus the base form, and change the verb in the if conditional clause to the past tense.
Use were rather than was in an if clause.
participle A verb form showing present tense (dancing, freezing) or past tense (danced, frozen) that can also act as an adjective.
To speculate about past actions that did not in fact occur, change the verb in the main clause to would have, might have, could have, or should have plus the past participle, and change the verb in the if clause to the past perfect.
Note: Do not add would have to the if clause.