01/10/93


                             CHAPTER 33

"Conditions"


     To understand conditions and conditional sentences, we need
some specialized terminology.  There is no easy way to do this,
so you're going to have to spend some time up front getting
familiar with them.  After a basic introduction to conditional
sentences, we'll look at conditional sentences in Latin and their
formulae.


CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS IN ENGLISH


     A conditional sentence has two parts: the subordinate "if"
clause, called the "protasis" (PRAH ta sis) of the condition, and
the main "then" clause, called the "apodosis" (a PAH da sis) of
the condition.  The protasis states the condition under which the
main clause will be (will not be), is being (is not being), or
was (was not), fulfilled:

            PROTASIS                       APODOSIS

   If it is raining outside         then the grass is wet.

   If you saw him yesterday         then he must have been here.


There are basically two kinds of conditional sentences,
categorized by the expectation the speaker has concerning the
possibility of the fulfillment of the condition stated in the
protasis:


OPEN OR SIMPLE CONDITIONS


A.   The speaker may be making no implication as to whether the
     condition was (not), is (not) being, or will (not) be,
     fulfilled.  These conditions are called "open" or "simple"
     conditions.


     1.    "If x approaches 0, then the value of f(x) approaches
           infinity."

     (Notice that the speaker is not implying that it is doubtful
     that x is approaching 200, but if it is, then the apodosis
     holds true.

     2.    "If you saw him yesterday, then he was here."

     (The speaker is not doubting or suggesting that you did not
     see him yesterday, but if you did, then he was here.)

     3.    "If you come tomorrow, I will be happy."

     (Again, the speaker is not saying that it is unlikely that
     you will come tomorrow, but if you do, then...  When a
     simple or open condition applies to a future event, it is
     often called the "future-more-vivid," or the "future real"
     condition.)


UNREAL CONDITIONS


B.   The speaker may be implying or explicitly stating that the
     condition stated in the protasis will not be, is not, or was
     not fulfilled.  These category of conditions are sometimes
     called the "unreal" conditions, and are further broken down
     into the time to which the conditions are being applied.

     1.    When the protasis applies to a future event, these
           conditions are called "future-less-vivid," "future
           unreal" or "should-would" condition.

     "If you should come (or were to come) tomorrow, then I would
     be happy."

     (The speaker doubts that you will come, but if you should,
     then he would be happy.)


     2.    When an unreal condition pertains to a present
           condition that is not being fulfilled, it is called the
           "present contrary-to-fact" condition.

     "If you were eight and a half feet tall, you would be a
     great basketball player."

     (But you are not eight feet tall, so you are not a great
     basketball player.  But if you were...)


     3.    When an unreal condition pertains to a past condition
           that was not fulfilled, it is called the "past
           contrary-to-fact" condition.

     "If George had been there, we would have won the game."

     (But he was not there, so we did not win the game.  But if
     he had been there...)

     Let's summarize the basic formulae for English conditional
sentences.  Notice that it is the change in tense and mood in the
protasis which indicates the kind of condition of the sentences.

I.   Simple or Open Conditions


       PROTASIS       APODOSIS             CONDITION

    pres. indic.     fut. indic.         FUTURE MORE VIVID

    pres. indic.     pres. indic.        PRESENT SIMPLE

    past. indic.     past indic.         PAST SIMPLE



II.  Unreal (and Contrary to Fact) Conditions



       PROTASIS       APODOSIS             CONDITION

    should, were to     would           FUTURE LESS VIVID

    imperf. indic.      would           PRESENT CONTRARY TO FACT

    plperf. indic.   would have         PAST CONTRARY TO FACT



REVIEW

Classify the following conditional statements:


1.   I will be most appreciative if you try your best on the
     exam. [We often omit the "then" of the apodosis.]


                      _________________________


2.   If Captain Kangaroo said it, it must have been true.


                      _________________________

3.   If the bendix drive is bent, the car will not start.


                      _________________________

4.   If the song were in the key of G flat minor, then you would
     be singing the right note.


                      _________________________

5.   Had I known that the teacher would be back next term, I
     would not have written such acidic comments on the course
     review.


                      _________________________



CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS IN LATIN


     The same classification of conditional sentences which you
just learned for English conditions applies to Latin conditions
as well.  Here is a table of the formulae for standard Latin
conditions.


I.   OPEN OR SIMPLE CONDITIONS


       PROTASIS         APODOSIS                 CONDITION


    future indic.      future indic.          FUTURE MORE VIVID

    present indic.     present indic.         PRESENT OPEN

    past indic.        past indic.            PAST OPEN



II.  UNREAL CONDITIONS


       PROTASIS         APODOSIS                 CONDITION


    present subj.      present subj.       FUTURE LESS VIVID

    imperf. subj.      imperf. subj.       PRES. CONTRARY TO FACT

    plpf. subj.        plpf. subj.         PAST CONTRARY TO FACT



     One feature you should notice about these formulae is that
the simple conditions all have the indicative mood in the
protasis, whereas all the unreal conditions have the subjunctive
mood in the protasis.  If you can remember this, you'll be better
able to untangle conditional sentences when you're reading.

     If the mood of the verb in the protasis is in the
indicative, then the condition is one of the simple or open
conditions.  Further refinement of the condition is then
determined by the tense of the verb in the protasis.  For
example, if the mood of the verb in the protasis is indicative
and in the future tense, then the condition is future more vivid.
If the mood of the verb in the protasis is in the subjunctive,
then the condition is one of the unreal conditions.  Again,
further classification of the condition is determined by the
tense of the verb in the protasis.  For example, if the mood of
the verb is subjunctive and its tense is present, then the
condition is future less vivid.  Let's look at some examples.


1.   "Si hoc faciet, beatus ero."

     (Because the protasis is the indicative mood, it is a simple
     condition -- one that does not imply any doubt about the
     fulfillment of the condition stated in the protasis.
     Because the tense of the protasis is future, the condition
     is a "future open" -- a condition which is also called a
     "future real," or "future-more-vivid." Tr. "If he does this,
     then I will be happy."  Notice that in the Latin future-
     more-vivid, the protasis is future, whereas the English is
     present.)


2.   "Si hoc facit, beatus sum."

     (Present simple or open.  Tr. "If he is doing this, then I
     am happy.")


3.   "Si hoc fecit, beatus eram."

     (Past simple or open.  Tr. "If he did this, I was happy.")



4.   "Si hoc faciat, beatus sim."

     (Now the mood of the protasis is subjunctive, so you have
     one of the unreal conditions.  Since the tense is present,
     the condition is a future less vivid, and is represented in
     English with "should-would." Tr. "If he should do this [I
     doubt he will], I would be happy.)


5.   "Si hoc faceret, beatus essem."

     (The mood isk subjunctive and the tense is imperfect, so
     this is a present contrary to fact condition.  Tr. "If he
     were doing this [but he is not], I would be happy [but I'm
     not].")


6.   "Si hoc fecisset, beatus fuissem."

     (Pluperfect subjunctive in the protasis, so this is a past
     contrary to fact condition.  Tr. "If he had done this [but
     he did not, I would have been happy [but I wasn't]."



REVIEW

To establish the kind condition in a Latin conditional sentence,
follow these simple steps:


1.   Find the protasis.

2.   Establish whether the mood is subjunctive or indicative.


     a.    If the mood of the verb in the protasis is indicative,
           then you have one of the simple or open conditions;
           find the tense.

           i.   If it is future, the condition is future-more-
                vivid (also called the future real).

           ii.  If it is present tense, the condition is present
                simple or open.

           iii. If it is a past tense, the condition is the past
                simple or open.


     b.    If it is subjunctive, find the tense.

           i.   If the tense is present, the condition is future-
                less-vivid (also called "should-would" or future
                unreal).

           ii.  If the tense is imperfect, the condition is
                present contrary-to-fact.

           iii. If the tense is pluperfect, the condition is past
                contrary-to-fact.


     I strongly suggest that you go to Wheelock's self-help
tutorial on pages 315-6 and work through the list of conditional
sentences.  The only way to internalize these rules is to
practice applying them constantly.  Ask yourself what kind of
condition the sentence is before you translate a single word.
Also, practice writing out the basic formulae for the Latin
conditional sentences until you have them thoroughly memorized.





VOCABULARY PUZZLES

quis, quid                When the indefinite pronoun "aliquis,
                          aliquid" is preceded in the sentence by
                          "si," "nisi," "num," or "ne," then the
                          "ali-" drops off, leaving just the
                          inflected endings "quis, quid."
                          Consequently, "si quis" means "if
                          someone," "nisi quid" means "unless
                          something," etc.  The way I remembered
                          the rule was this little jingle:

                          "After si, nisi, num, and ne
                          Then the ali- falls away."

