Conditional sentences (câu điều kiện)

1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationales for the study Nowadays, English has been spoken all over the world as an international language It is widely used in many fields of life such as science, technology, tourism, business, education and so on Moreover, English enables us to communicate with people from different countries and learn more about their life and culture In Vietnam, it is now a great demand to learn English for the process of integrating into international economic and diplomatic development However, it is not easy for Vietnamese to learn English as a second language and grammar is a typical problem for this In term of English grammar, from my point of view, English conditional sentence is one of the most difficult problem for learners, because of some reasons: - English conditional sentences consist of two clauses and the structures of each clause are relatively complicated - There are many types of conditional sentences that can easily confuse both English and Vietnamese while using them - Great differences appear between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences For all of the reasons above, I have chosen “Conditional sentences” as my graduation paper I also hope that it will be the useful references for both English and Vietnamese learners Aims of the study The study on conditional sentences aims at: - Giving the definition of conditional sentences and its structures and uses - Clarifying and describing different types of conditional sentences - Comparing between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences and giving suggestion for learners - Providing some translation ways of conditional sentences Research questions What is conditional sentence? What are the types of conditional sentences? What are their formation, use, inversion and possible variation? What are the related forms of conditional sentences? What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences? How to translate English unreal conditional sentences to Vietnamese? Scope of the study Firstly, conditional sentences in English are very complicated so I can’t present a full description of it Therefore, this study will focus mainly on describing and analyzing common structures and uses of conditional sentences Secondly, more attention will be paid to the classification of English conditional sentences to make my study more helpful and practical for the English learner Finally, because of the limitation of time, for the comparison between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences, I will only try to bring out the most typical and striking differences to help learner to avoid mistakes while using conditional sentences Design of the study This study consists of five main chapters: Chapter is the introduction giving out the reasons for choosing the topic of this graduation paper, pointing out the aims, research questions, scope and design of the study Chapter is a brief review of previous studies and theoretical background of conditional sentences Chapter is methodology pointing out a system of ways of researching conditional sentences Chapter clarifies the definiton of English conditional sentences, the types of conditional sentences and their formation, function, inversion, variations and related forms This chapter also provide a comparision between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences Chapter is the conclusion presenting a review of the study, its limitation and suggestion for further study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies Conditional sentences have been extensively noted as one of the difficult parts of English to acquire and researches have been done from various angles to help learners more comfortalbe with them For example, Cuvalay (1996) and Dik (1990) analysed them in linguistics from a functional grammar viewpoint Semantic and pragmatic viewpoints have also been analysed by Beck (1997) and Fintel (1997) In the early grammar method, conditional sentences were analysed within the mood term simultaneously with the imperative and indicative under the subjunctive Conditionals are occasionally examined within the area of tenses or under modals 2.2 Review of theoretical background Before discussing about conditional sentences, let’s start from the definition of a sentence A sentence is a set of words that is complete in itself, typically containing a subject and predicate, conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command, and consisting of a main clause and sometimes one or more subordinate clauses There are four types of sentences: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound-complex sentence Simple sentence is the one that consist of one independent clause For example: The child laughed Mary is in the house She is a nurse Compound sentence is a sentence contains at least two independent clauses, often joined by a coordinating conjunction The conjunctions are as follows: but, and, or, either, so, not only… but also… Except for very short sentences, coordinating conjunctions are always preceded by a comma For example: I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English I played badminton, so you went shopping I played badminton, for she went shopping Complex sentence is a sentence contains more than one clause of which one clause is the main clause, the others are subordinate clauses being part of the main clause The subordinate clauses and the main clause are joined together by subordinate conjunctions The main clause is a clause which has a meaningful unit by an independent clause but it also needs one or more subordinate clause complementing for it The subordinate clause is a clause which has to depend on the main clause For example: I don’t know when she will come This is the magazine which you ordered Shut the door when you leave He couldn’t join the trip because he was late Compound-complex sentence is the combination of two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses For example: I will come and I will bring some of my friends if they have a day off Among the four types of sentences, a complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, but a dependent clause even though it has a subject and a verb cannot stand alone Conditional sentence is one kind of complex sentences Conditional sentence has at least two clauses (the result clause and the if-clause) used to express the dependence of one circumstance or set of circumstances on another In other words, the if-clause sets up the condition for the main clause to produce the result Mood is the form which shows the relation between the action expressed by the predicate verb and reality This relation is established by the speaker to present an action as a real fact or as a command (request) or as something unreal, something that does not exist in reality There are a lot of opinions about types of moods but the most common view is that in modern English, there are three moods: indicative, imperative mood and subjunctive mood Indicative mood is used by speakers to present the real action Most of what we says or writes is in indicative mood As a result, this is the most common mood in any language We can use indicative mood to give information For example: I like reading books We had dinner at six Indicative mood can be used to express opinions For example: I think she is a good student It can also be used to make promises For example: I shall anything I can to help you Imperative mood is the plain stem of the verb It may be used in the affirmative and the negative form For example: Affirmative form: Sit down! Negative form: Don’t go out! If we want to make a command or request more expressive, we use the emphatic form For example: Do listen to him! Do be quiet! Thus, in English, the imperative mood is severely restricted in tense, aspect, voice and modality Subjunctive mood, in contrast to indicative mood, usually refers to nonfactual or hypothetical situation There are two types of subjunctive: the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive The present subjunctive is identical with the simple present tense indicative, except the third person singular form is the same as in all other cases The present subjunctive form of “to be” is “be” for all cases Mandative subjunctive: My father suggested that my cousin stay with us My only concern is that you be here Formulaic subjunctive: God saves the queen! Come what may, we will go ahead The past subjunctive in English consists of the past subjunctive which is identical with the past tense indicative, except that the verb “to be” is “were” for all cases and the past perfect subjunctive which is identical in form with the past perfect indicative The past subjunctive is used in conditional sentences implying a negative, or in a clauses in which the condition is combined with improbability or unreality For example: If I were you, I would accept the offer If I had worked harder, I wouldn’t have failed the exam Besides, the past subjunctive is also used after such expressions For example: I wish he visited us more often Suppose that the teacher caught us wasting time, it would be bad I had rather that you told him that I did He talked to me as if he knew everything It is high time we went home CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions This study is set to answer the main questions about conditional sentence and its types Moreover, it also provides a comparision between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences 3.2 Methods My strategies for completion of this study is collecting references from different sources inside and outside university Next, I analyze the collected materials and references to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese conditional sentences 3.3 Research settings This research is completed in the length of a semester It is mainly done at home and sometimes at the library of the university by myself with the support of my supervisor and my classmates 3.4 Data collection instruments The materials for this research is mainly collected from the internet and sometimes from textbooks, documents and previous researches 3.5 Data analysis The kind of analysis in this study is qualitative analysis After data materials is collected, I will categorize them into different fields Next, the data is identified and developed and finally summarized and demonstrated in my study CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings 4.1.1 An overview of conditional sentences When you want to talk about a possible situation and its consequence, you use a conditional clause Randolph Quirk (1972) suggested that “conditional clauses state the dependence of one circumstance or set of circumstances on another” Collin Cobuild (1990) also pointed out that “Sentences containing conditional clauses are called conditional sentences” Basically, conditional sentences are used to talk about: - A situation which sometimes exists or existed - A situation which you know does not exist - A situation when you don’t know whether it exists or not - A situation which may exist in the future According to Wikipedia, conditional sentences consist of two clauses: - The “if-clause” expressing the condition, called the protasis - The main clause expressing the consequence, called the apodosis An example of conditional sentence is: “If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled” Here the condition is expressed by the clause “If it rains”, while the consequence is expressed by “the picnic will be cancelled” Normally, there are two clauses in conditional sentences and the if-clause is most frequently in initial position If the “if-clause” comes first, then a comma is usually used If the “if-clause” comes second, there is no need for a comma If-clause occurs most frequently in the initial position in the following cases: - Sarcastic speech For example: If he is intelligent, then I am Albert Einstein If you have a brain, you would be dangerous - Tautologisms For example: If Tim is a liar, then Tim is a liar Tautologisms are more likely to be found in speech than in writing - Strong deduction For example: A: Linda sat up late last night B: If Linda sat up late last night, she heard the explosion “If” does not mean on condition that, but on the assumption that, given that… It implies that on the basic of a stated fact, a deduction is about to be mad When you are using a conditional clause, you can use a modal in the main clause A modal in the main clause is used to talk about a situation which does not exist For example: If you weren’t here, she would get rid of me in no time If anybody had asked me, I could have told them what happened As usual, we don’t use “would” in the if-clause However, in some cases, “if…would” can be used when we ask somebody to something For example: I would be grateful if you would send me your brochure as soon as possible Shall I close the door? Yes, please, if you would Beside the most common conditional conjunction “if”, we can use other conjunctions: unless, providing/provided (that), as, so long as, on condition that, even if, supposing, whether…or, if only, as if, in case, otherwise… The conjunction “when” is only used for things that will definitely happen For example: When I die, I will leave all my money to charity English conditional sentences express three kinds of sentences about semantic relationship: factual conditional relationship, predictive conditional relationship, hypothetical conditional relationship - Factual conditional sentences often appear in everyday English language and ESL/ EFL textbooks It consists of four kinds: generic, habitual, implicit inference and explicit inference Generic conditional sentence express relationships that are true and unchanging For example: If oil is mixed with water, it floats It you boil water, it vaporizes Habitual factual conditional sentences resemble generic factual in that they also express a relationship that is not bounded in time; however, the relationship is based on habit instead of physical law Habitual factual expresses either past or present relationships that are typically or habitually true For example: Present: If I wash the dishes, Sally dries them Past: If Nancy said ‘Jump!’, Bob jumped This type of conditional sentences is frequent in conversation Both clauses usually have the same tense It should be noted that for both generic and habitual conditionals it is possible to subtitute when or whenever for it and still express more or less the same idea For example: When (ever) you boil water, it vaporizes When (ever) I wash the dishes, Sally dries them Implicit inference factual conditional sentences express inferences about specific time-bound relationships As such, they make use of a much wider range of tense and aspect markers and they also occur with certain modal auxiliaries For example: If it is raining out there, my motorbike is getting wet If smog can be licked in L.A., it can be liked anywhere If there was a happy man in the world that night, it was Jon Turney If you will bring some more wine, I will bring some beer and potato chips If it’s Tuesday, it’s Sam’s birthday Like generic and habitual factual, implicit inference factual tend to maintain the same tense and aspect or the same modal in both clauses However, in implicit inference factual, “when” or “whenever” cannot subtitute for “if” without changing the meaning and often making the sentence ungrammatical or awkward The explicit inference conditional is the only case where there is no strict parallelism of tense, aspect or modal in both clauses This is because the condition is used as the basis for making an explicit inference For example: If someone’s at the door, it must be Peter If anyone has the answer, it should be Rod Implicit inference: If it’s raining out there, my car is getting wet Explicit inference: If it’s raining out there, my car must be getting wet Past implicit inference: If he was there, he saw the painting Past explicit inference: If he was there, he must have seen the painting - Future (predictive) conditional sentences express future plans or contigencies The normal pattern for this type of conditional is simple present tense in the if-clause and some explicit indication of future time (will or be going to) in the result clause For example: If it rains, I will stay home If you finish your vegetables, I’m going to buy you an ice-cream cone If Steve comes to class, he will get the answers to the quiz Sometimes, the future outcome expressed in the consequence clause (main clause) is not sufficiently certain to warrant use of will or be going to, in which case a weaker modal of prediction such as may, should, or might can be used For example: If you finish your vegetables, I may buy you an ice-cream cone If Steven comes to class, he should get the answers to the quiz 10 - Imaginative conditional counterfactuals sentences contain hypotheticals and Hypothetical conditionals express unlikely yet possible events or states in the if-clause For example: If I had enough money, I would buy a car (There is not a strong negation here There is an outside chance that the speaker has – or will have – enough money) Counterfactual conditionals, however, express impossible events or states For example: If I were the Prime Minister, I would make some changes Counterfactual conditionals refer to the present or the past For example: Present: If I were the Prime Minister, I would make some changes Past: If I had been the Prime Minister, I wouldn’t have made that decision Sometimes, the difference between using a future conditional and a hypothetical conditional sentence is a matter of speaker choice For example: Future: If it rains, I will stay home Hypothetical: If it were to rain/should rain, I would stay home The choice reflects the confidence in the speaker’s mind concerning the fullfilment of the condition: the future conditional expresses a greater confidence that the condition is a real possibility than the hypothetical conditional 4.1.2 Classification of conditional sentences 4.1.2.1 The type conditional sentence  Definition Type conditional sentence refers to conditional sentences expressing a factual implication It essentially states that if one fact holds, then so does another  Formation of type conditional sentence Type conditional sentence is very easy to form because both main clause and “if – clause” are often in present simple tense The formation should be: If + Present Simple, … Present Simple For example: If you freeze water, it turns into ice If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils ... sequences in the conditional sentences and related forms of the conditional sentences  Mixed tense sequences in the conditional sentences We often hear about basic types of conditional sentences in... another” Collin Cobuild (1990) also pointed out that ? ?Sentences containing conditional clauses are called conditional sentences? ?? Basically, conditional sentences are used to talk about: - A situation... charity English conditional sentences express three kinds of sentences about semantic relationship: factual conditional relationship, predictive conditional relationship, hypothetical conditional