Conditional sentences that don’t use “if”

[Joe Carillo]

When this column took up the grammar of “if”-conditional sentences last week, I emphasized that a good communicator doesn’t make bland assertions of truth every time but expresses them simply as factual knowledge or hypothetical situations and consequences of prediction, speculation, or plain guesswork. What this means is that our credibility depends on clearly indicating whether the assertion we make is a certainty (a zero conditional), a real possibility (a first conditional), an unreal possibility (a second conditional), or isn’t a possibility at all (a third conditional).

After distinguishing these four types of “if”-conditionals from one another, however, I gave word of advice that a good communicator avoids overusing them whether in written and spoken form. Indeed, unless you’re composing impassioned verse like Rudyard Kipling’s in his famous and widely anthologized 32-line poem “If—,” such conditionals should be used only sparingly and not as expositional straitjackets that could alienate or turn off the reader or listener. (Click this link for Kipling’s “If—”)

So, for those who’d like to widen their repertoire of expressing conditionality in English, what follows are several other ways of doing so without resorting to the “if”-clause:

Use the conditional phrases “otherwise,” “unless,” and “or”

Grammatically, the words “otherwise,” “unless,” and “or” are more congenial and much less formulaic than “if” in communicating conditionality.

Consider the following assertion: “So please keep quiet, Gina; otherwise, leave the conference room right now.” (The “if”-clause way of saying that is, of course, this: “If you can’t keep quiet, Gina, please leave the conference room right now.”

Or this assertion: “They won’t deliver our order unless we pay up tomorrow.” (The “if”-clause way of saying that: “If we don’t pay up tomorrow, they won’t deliver our order.”

For both of the above assertions, the conditional “or” will do job as well: “Please keep quiet, Gina, or leave the conference room right now.” We must pay up tomorrow or they won’t deliver our order.”

Use the conditional phrase “in case”

The phrase “in case” is often the conditional phrase of choice when asserting actions that need to be done to get ready for other things that might happen.

To prepare for a possibility: “We need a quick substitute in case our first choice backs out.” (The “if”-clause way of saying that: “We need a quick substitute if our first choice backs out.”

To give an instruction in safety signage: “In case of fire, press the alarm button.”  (The “if”-clause for that: “If fire breaks out, press the alarm button.”

Use the conditional phrase “as long as”

And in situations where a stronger conditional than “if” is needed, the phrase “as long as” in the sense of “only if” might be desirable or necessary. Example: “As long as you need me/ I’m gonna be here/ I’ll bring some laughter/ To dry your tears...” These lyrics for “As Long As You Need Me” were written by Nathan DiGesare and sung by Sierra Deaton (The “if”-clause for those lyrics is, of course, “Only if you need me/ I’m gonna be here/ I’ll bring some laughter/ To dry your tears...”

The use of the mixed type conditional

Back to the “if”-conditionals before we close, let’s take a quick look at the so-called mixed type conditional, which refers to an unreal past condition and its probable result in the present time. In sentences of this kind, the “if”-clause uses the past perfect or simple past tense and the main clause uses the present conditional or perfect conditional.

Two examples: “If I had pursued my medical course more vigorously, I would be a certified cardiologist now.” “If you weren’t intimidated by her bookish looks in college, you would have been a perfect couple and likely happily married today.” 

(Next: Parentheticals for spontaneity in our prose)     November 25, 2021

This essay, 2072nd of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the November 18, 2021 Internet edition of The Manila Times,© 2021 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

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Conditional sentences that don’t use “if”