Conditional : Unreal Past

The past tense is sometimes used in English to refer to an 'unreal' situation. So, although
the tense is the past, we are usually talking about the present, e.g. in a Type 2
conditional sentence:

If an elephant and a mouse fell in love, they would have many problems.

Although fell is in the past tense, we are talking about a hypothetical situation that
might exist now or at any time, but we are not referring to the past. We call this use the
unreal past.

Other situations where this occurs are:

 after other words and expressions like 'if' (supposing, if only, what if);
 after the verb 'to wish';
 after the expression 'I'd rather..'

Expressions like 'if'

The following expressions can be used to introduce hypothetical situations:

- supposing, if only, what if. They are followed by a past tense to indicate that the
condition they introduce is unreal:

 Supposing an elephant and a mouse fell in love? (= but we know this is unlikely
or impossible)
 What if we painted the room purple? (= that would be very surprising)
 If only I had more money. (= but I haven't).

These expressions can also introduce hypothetical situations in the past and then they
are followed by the past perfect.

Examples

 If only I hadn't kissed the frog (= I did and it was a mistake because he turned
into a horrible prince, but I can't change it now.)
 What if the elephant had trodden on the mouse? (She didn't, but we can imagine
the result!)
 Supposing I had given that man my money! (I didn't, so I've still got my money
now.)

The verb to wish

The verb to wish is followed by an 'unreal' past tense when we want to talk about
situations in the present that we are not happy about but cannot change:
  I wish I had more money (=but I haven't)
 She wishes she was beautiful (= but she's not)
 We wish we could come to your party (but we can't)

When we want to talk about situations in the past that we are not happy about or actions
that we regret, we use the verb to wish followed by the past perfect:
 I wish I hadn't said that (= but I did)
 He wishes he hadn't bought the car (= but he did buy it.)

 I wish I had taken that job in New York (= but I didn't, so I'm stuck in Bristol)

NOTE: When we want to talk about situations we are not happy about and where we
want someone else to change them, we use to wish followed by would + infinitive:

 I wish he would stop smoking. (= I don't like it, I want him to change it)
 I wish you would go away. (= I don't want you here, I want you to take some
action)
 I wish you wouldn't squeeze the toothpaste from the middle! (= I want you to
change your habits.)

I'd rather and it's time...

These two expressions are also followed by an unreal past. The verb is in the past tense,
but the situation is in the present.

When we want to talk about a course of action we would prefer someone else to take,
we use I'd rather + past tense:

 I'd rather you went

 He'd rather you called the police
 I'd rather you didn't hunt elephants.

NOTE: the stress can be important in these sentences, to show what our preference is:

 I'd rather you went = not me,

 I'd rather you went = don't stay
 He'd rather you called the police = he doesn't want to
 He'd rather you called the police = not the ambulance service

Similarly, when we want to say that now is a suitable moment to do something, either
for ourselves or for someone else, we use it's time + past tense:

 It's (high) time I went.

 It's time you paid that bill.
 Don't you think it's time you had a haircut?
Exercise
Talking about imaginary situations

Complete the sentences. Use contractions where possible.

lived didn't go had rather only 'd buy wouldn't be 'd learned

1. I wish I_______________ (learn) English when I was a child.

2. Where would you_________________ (rather / be) now?
3. If she__________________ (have) a boat, she'd sail around the world.
4. They'd have more money if they________________ (not / go) out every night.
5. He____________________ (buy) the jeans if they weren't so expensive.
6. You____________________ (not / be) late if you got up earlier.
7. If we____________________ (live) in Switzerland, I'd go skiing every day.
8. If______________________ (I / only / work) harder when I was at school.

Reporting verbs
Form & meaning
Reporting verbs are used to report what someone said more accurately than
using say & tell.

1. verb + infinitive
agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse, threaten
o They agreed to meet on Friday.

o He refused to take his coat off.

2. verb + object + infinitive

advise, encourage, invite, remind, warn
o Tom advised me to go home early.

o She reminded me to telephone my mother.

3. verb + gerund
deny, recommend, suggest
o They recommended taking the bus.
 o She suggested meeting a little earlier.

4. verb + object + preposition

accuse, blame, congratulate
o He accused me of taking the money.

o They congratulated me on passing all my exams.

5. verb + preposition + gerund

apologise, insist
o They apologised for not coming.

o He insisted on having dinner.

6. verb + subject + verb

admit, agree, decide, deny, explain, insist, promise, recommend, suggest
o Sarah decided (that) the house needed cleaning.

o They recommended (that) we take the bus.

Exercise
Choose the correct reporting verb from this list and finish the reported speech for each
example.
Told Suggested
Said Asked
Advised Offered
Warned Ordered

1. "I'd go and see a doctor if I were you," Julie said to me.

Julie__________________ me to go and see a doctor.

2. "Can you come and help me with this box?"

John___________________ me to help him with the box.

3. "This is an exam Mr. Jenkins!! Shut up now!!!"

The headmaster_______________________ Mr. Jenkins to shut up.

4. "That road is very dangerous so just be very careful!"

His mother_________________ him that the road was very dangerous and to be careful.

5. "Liverpool won the match last night."

The journalist____________________ that Liverpool had won the match the previous
night.

6. "Why don't we go and see that new film at the cinema."

Bill________________________ going to see the new film at the cinema.

7. "I can come and look after the children tomorrow night."
Jane_____________________ to come and look after the children the following day.
8. "The lesson starts at six o'clock in the evening."
The teacher______________________ us that the lesson started at six in the evening.

Passive voice with reporting verbs

If we want to avoid mentioning the generalised agents we, they, people, everybody, one
etc. with reporting verbs, we can use the following passive patterns:

1. it + passive reporting verb + that-clause

In this pattern, the generalised agent + active reporting verb is replaced with it +
passive reporting verb:

Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine.

It is known that my grandfather likes red wine.

2. subject + passive reporting verb + to-infinitive

In this pattern we start with the subject of the reported clause, which is followed
by the passive reporting verb and the to-infinitive form of the verb in the
reported clause:

Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine.

My grandfather is known to like red wine.

The reporting verb (is known) is in the same tense as it was in the active
sentence (knows). The type of to-infinitive we use (to like) corresponds to the
temporal relationship between the action of reporting and the reported event.
This temporal relationship can be of two basic types:

o The reporting and the reported event happen simultaneously (as in the
example above).
o The reported event happens before the reporting.

The following table shows examples of reporting verbs which can be used with the patterns
above:

Examples of reporting verbs used in the passive voice

allege discover know say
assume estimate observe see
believe expect presume show
claim feel prove suppose
consider find report think
declare intend reveal understand

Exercise
Rewrite each sentence so that the meaning stays the same.
1. People think that neither side wanted war.
Neither side is ...................................................................................................
2. People say that fewer than 1,000 blue whales survive in the southern hemisphere.
Fewer ................................................................................................................
3. Everyone knows that eating fruit is good for you.
Eating fruit ........................................................................................................
4. People consider that one in three bathing beaches is unfit for swimming.
One in three bathing beaches ............................................................................
5. At least 130,000 dolphins are reported to be caught in the nets of tuna fishers every
year.
It is ....................................................................................................................
6. It is estimated that in the past 15 years about 10 million dolphins have been killed.
About 10 million dolphins ...............................................................................
7. In ancient Greece people thought dolphins were men who had abandoned life on land.
In ancient Greece it ..........................................................................................
8. In ancient Rome it was believed that dolphins carried souls to heaven.
In ancient Rome dolphins ................................................................................
9. People say that the company invested fifty million pounds last week.
The company ....................................................................................................
10. People say Mr Clark was difficult to work with when he was younger.
Mr Clark ............................................................................................................
Exercise answers

Section 1
No. 1: ‘d learned
No. 2: rather be
No. 3: had
No. 4: didn’t go
No. 5: ‘d buy
No. 6: wouldn’t be
No. 7: lived
No. 8: only I’d worked

Section 2
Question 1 - Answer was: advised.
Question 2 - Answer was: asked.
Question 3 - Answer was: ordered.
Question 4 - Answer was: warned.
Question 5 - Answer was: said.
Question 6 - Answer was: suggested.
Question 7 - Answer was: offered.
Question 8 - Answer was: told.

Section 3
1. Neither side is thought to have wanted war.
2. Fewer than 1,000 blue whales are said to survive in the southern hemisphere.
3. Eating fruit is known to be good for you.
4. One in three bathing beaches is considered unfit for swimming.
5. It is reported that at least 130,000 dolphins are caught in the nets of tuna fishers every
year.
6. About 10 million dolphins are estimated to have been killed in the past 15 years.
7. In ancient Greece it was thought that dolphins were men who had abandoned life on
earth.
8. In ancient Rome dolphins were believed to carry souls to heaven.
9. The company is said to have invested fifty million pounds last week.
10. Mr. Clark is said to have been difficult to work with when he was younger.