Continuous Conditionals

Continuous Unreal 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, uture Continuous,
Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, and uture Perfect Continuous. The Verb
Tense Tutorial gives you all the information you need to create Continuous Real Conditional
sentences. !ut many English learners are not aware of the fact that we can use continuousness
in imaginary situations as well. "tudy the e#amples below to learn how to create Continuous
Unreal Conditional sentences that will ma$e you sound li$e a native spea$er.

Present Unreal Conditional % Continuous
USE
Present Unreal Conditional % Continuous is used to discuss imaginary situations which could be
happening at this very moment.
NOTICE "ometimes the continuous form is in the &'f& Clause.
EXAMPLES(
'f the sun were shining, ' would go to the beach.
)Unfortunately, it is raining so ' can't go.*
'f "am were sitting here, we would be able to as$ him the +uestion ourselves.
)!ut "am is not sitting here. ,e is somewhere else.*
-e would be able to go sailing if the wind were blowing.
)!ut there is no wind, so we can't go sailing.*

NOTICE "ometimes the continuous form is in the .esult.
EXAMPLES(
'f ' were in ,awaii, ' would be lying on the beach.
)!ut ' am not in ,awaii.*
'f my grandfather were here, he would be tal$ing about the war.
)!ut he is not here.*
' would be rafting down the Colorado .iver right now if my leg weren't bro$en.
)!ut my leg is bro$en, so ' am not there.*


Past Unreal Conditional % Continuous
USE
Past Unreal Conditional % Continuous is used to discuss imaginary situations happening at a
very specific time in the past or over a period of time in the past.
NOTICE /s in the e#amples above, sometimes the continuous form is in the &'f& Clause and
sometimes it is in the .esult. The sentences below have been labelled to help remind you
where the continuous form is being used.
EXAMPLES(
'f ' had been tal$ing to him when he said that, ' would have punched him in the face. IF
CLAUSE
)!ut ' wasn't tal$ing to him when he said that.*
'f he had been standing near the house when the wall collapsed, it would have $illed him. IF
CLAUSE
)0uc$ily he moved away before the wall fell.*
'f you had gone to his house last night, he would have been sitting on his couch in front of the
TV. RESULT
)!ut you didn't go to his house, so you didn't see what he was doing.*
'f she had missed her train, he would have been waiting for her at the station for hours.
RESULT
)0uc$ily, she caught her train and he didn't have to wait.*

NOTICE Past Unreal Conditional % Continuous can be used li$e the Past Continuous in
imaginary situations to emphasi1e interruptions or parallel actions in the past.
EXAMPLES(
'f 2ames had been crossing the street when the car ran the red light, it would have hit him. IF
CLAUSE
'f Tom had been studying while !ec$y was ma$ing dinner, he would have finished his homewor$
early and they could have gone to the movie. IF CLAUSE
'f 2ames hadn't stopped to tie his shoe, he would have been crossing the street when the car
ran the red light. RESULT
'f you had gone to their house last night, !ob would have been reading the news paper, 3ancy
would have been tal$ing on the phone and the $ids would have been watching TV. They always
do the same things. RESULT

NOTICE Past Unreal Conditional % Continuous can be used li$e Present Perfect Continuous or
Past Perfect Continuous in imaginary situations to emphasi1e a duration of time.
EXAMPLES(
"cott said he had been studying 4ree$ for more than five years. 'f he had been studying the
language that long, ' thin$ he would have been able to interpret for us at the airport. IF CLAUSE
"arah claimed she had been waiting in the rain for more than twenty minutes by the time we
arrived, but she wasn't even wet. 'f she had been waiting that long, ' thin$ she would have been
totally drenched by the time we arrived. IF CLAUSE
Terry's plane arrived ahead of schedule. 'f ' hadn't decided to go to the airport early, she would
have been waiting there for more than twenty minutes before ' arrived. RESULT
/t the travel agency yesterday, ' waited for more than an hour for somebody to help me. inally,
' got up and left. 'f ' hadn't decided to leave, ' would have been sitting there forever. RESULT


'magining /bout the uture % Continuous
USE
uture Unreal Conditional % Continuous can be used li$e the uture Continuous in imaginary
situations to emphasi1e interruptions or parallel actions in the future.
NOTICE The future form loo$s the same as the present form. The future is indicated with words
such as &tomorrow,& &ne#t wee$& or &in a couple of days.&
EXAMPLES(
'f ' were waiting there ne#t wee$ when he gets off the plane, he would be totally surprised. IF
CLAUSE
)!ut ' will not be waiting there, so he won't be surprised.*
'f he were staying in that hotel ne#t wee$ while the conference is being held, he might be able to
meet some of the $ey spea$ers and tell them about our new product. IF CLAUSE
)' don't thin$ he will be able to stay at the hotel, so he won't be able to meet anybody there.*
'f ' were able to go to the train station tonight to meet "andra, ' would be standing on the
platform waiting for her when she arrives. RESULT
)' won't be able to go to the train station so ' will not be standing there when she arrives.*
'f you went over to Paul's house after wor$, he would probably be sitting there at his computer
surfing the internet. RESULT