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French: mixed conditional sentences | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Slayertplsko Heptaglot Newbie Slovakia Joined 4778 days ago 24 posts - 29 votes Speaks: Slovak*, Czech, FrenchB2, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish | Message 1 of 9 15 March 2014 at 8:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi.
What I mean by mixed conditionals is something that looks like this in English: If I hadn't robbed the bank, I wouldn't be in prison now. This is probably the most common type. Compare this to what is usually referred to as the third conditional: If I hadn't robbed the bank, I wouldn't have been sentenced to five years in prison. In the first sentence, the action in the main clause takes place now. In the second example, the action of the main clause happened in the past. That's why in the first example there is what we could call present conditional in the main clause (would...), while in the second example there is what we could call past conditional in the main clause (would have...). Now my question is whether such a thing, i.e. mixed conditionals, is possible in French. That is to say, is the sentence: Si je n'avais pas volé la banque, je ne serais pas en prison maintenant. correct, or is the grammatical tendency to use conditionnel passé in the main clause too strong? Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6006 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 2 of 9 15 March 2014 at 8:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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The rule is:
Si + imparfait => conditionnel Si + présent => futur Your sentence follows the first one, therefore is gramatically correct. Edited by Luso on 15 March 2014 at 8:54pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4652 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 3 of 9 15 March 2014 at 9:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Something like Si je n'avais pas volé la banque quand j'étais jeune, je n'aurais pas
passé six années en prison is also good French. If you're describing a past event, that is. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Michel1020 Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 4962 days ago 365 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish, Dutch | Message 4 of 9 15 March 2014 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Je ne serais pas en prison si je n'avais pas volé la banque
Je n'aurais pas été en prison si je n'avais pas volé la banque. Both are correct. I don't think there is a rule Si + présent => futur At least not in all cases. Si je vois une jolie femme, j'en tombe amoureux. Si je mange du citron, je suis malade. (docteur Mac kay) Si tu me trompes je te quitte. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4652 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 5 of 9 15 March 2014 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think they denote a difference in context though: I would use the first more for a
general statement (if I was in prison right now), and the second for if it was a past event. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6006 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 6 of 9 15 March 2014 at 11:29pm | IP Logged | ||
There is. As in every other Romance language, most of the time you can replace the future by a present tense. But the rule exists. It's the only one I still remember by heart. :P I googled "grammaire si +" and took a random result from the top three. Here it is. I also have Le Bon Usage tucked away somewhere. Please don't force me to go look for it. ;) Edited by Luso on 15 March 2014 at 11:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Michel1020 Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 4962 days ago 365 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish, Dutch | Message 7 of 9 16 March 2014 at 10:57am | IP Logged | ||
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Je ne serais pas en prison si je n'avais pas volé la banque
Je n'aurais pas été en prison si je n'avais pas volé la banque.
There is indeed a difference between both - I only said they are both correct. As for general statement or not - it depends how you understand general statement. Since in the first case you are in prison right now - you could take this first example as time specific - when the second example is more general - so general that you could even use it if you are in prison right now. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5505 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 8 of 9 17 March 2014 at 8:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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And I believe mistakenly saying:
si + conditional => whatever is considered a very crass mistake by the french. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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