Continuous Conditionals

Those of you who have studied Englishpage.com's Verb Tense Tutorial should be familiar with continuous verb tenses such as Present Continuous, Past Continuous, Future Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, and Future Perfect Continuous. The Verb Tense Tutorial gives you all the information you need to create continuous Real Conditional sentences. But many English learners are not aware of the fact that we can use continuousness in imaginary situations as well. Study the examples below to learn how to create continuous Unreal Conditional sentences that will make you sound like a native speaker.

 

Present Unreal Conditional + Continuous

FORM

If-clause: [were + present participle]

Result: [would be + present participle]

USE

Present Unreal Conditional + Continuous is used to discuss imaginary situations which could be happening at this very moment.

Examples in the if-clause:

• If the sun were shining, I would go to the beach.
  Unfortunately, it is raining so I can't go.
• If Sam were sitting here, we would be able to ask him the question ourselves.
  But Sam is not sitting here. He is somewhere else.
• We would be able to go sailing if the wind were blowing.
  But there is no wind, so we can't go sailing.

Examples in the result:

• If I were in Hawaii, I would be lying on the beach.
  But I am not in Hawaii.
• If my grandfather were here, he would be talking about the war.
  But he is not here.
• I would be rafting down the Colorado River right now if my leg weren't broken.
  But my leg is broken, so I am not there.