conc activity

CONDITIONS in our class "corpus"

conditions basics

1. Using the instructions for using a CONCORDANCE, build a concordance of conditions.

2. Cut and paste examples into the chart below (many examples will fit in both Section A and Section B):

A. Find 10 of each of these kinds of conditions:
- Real
- Unreal - both clauses past
- Unreal - both clauses nonpast
  ( EXTRA CREDIT: Unreal - one clause past and one nonpast)
B. See how many of each of the kinds of conditions listed below you can find:
- Conditions with unless
- Conditions with provided that or even if
- Conditions in which the "if-clause" begins with were, had,or should instead of a word like if
- Conditions in which the "if-clause" is replaced by otherwise or in that case
- Conditions in which the "if-clause" is missing (understood but not stated).

3. Print out the chart and hand it in.

group: and
texts used:

10 REAL CONDITIONS
Ex. If it snows, streets will be slippery. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	IF-CLAUSE ............. MAIN CLAUSE
10 UNREAL CONDTIONS past
Ex. If it had snowed, streets would have been slippery. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
10 UNREAL CONDITIONS nonpast
Ex. If it snowed, streets would be slippery. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
EXTRA CREDIT: UNREAL CONDITIONS past AND nonpast
Ex. If it had snowed, streets would be slippery. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	IF-CLAUSE ............. MAIN CLAUSE

CONDITIONS with "unless"

Ex. The streets will be slippery unless the snow melts. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE

CONDITIONS with provided that or even if

Ex. Provided that the roads are clear, we will drive to Chicago. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE

CONDITIONS in which the "if-clause" begins with were, had, or should instead of a word like if
restate WITH an "if-clause

Ex. Had it snowed, the roads would have been slippery. = If it had snowed, ... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE

CONDITIONS in which the "if-clause" is replaced by otherwise or in that case
what is the "if-clause" that has been replaced?

Ex. It didn't snow. Otherwise, the streets would be slippery. = If it had snowed, .. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE

Conditions in which the "if-clause" is missing (understood but not stated)
what is the "if-clause" that is understood?

Ex. Driving in bad weather would be dangerous. = If we drove in bad weather, it would .. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE

EXTRA CREDIT -- HOMEWORK: ADD another file to your corpus and include examples from it in the chart. (find a document on the internet that you'd like to include, save it to your harddrive or disk AS A "TEXT" FILE, and follow the concordance instructions to append it to your corpus ... or just build a separate concordance from it.)

COMMENTS or QUESTIONS:

Return to the class homepage
Go to the Grammar Safari page
Go to the IEI Home Page

Ann Salzmann
Intensive English Institute
University of Illinois

CONDITIONS with "unless"
Ex. The streets will be slippery unless the snow melts. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE
CONDITIONS with provided that or even if
Ex. Provided that the roads are clear, we will drive to Chicago. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE
CONDITIONS in which the "if-clause" begins with were, had, or should instead of a word like if restate WITH an "if-clause
Ex. Had it snowed, the roads would have been slippery. = If it had snowed, ... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE
CONDITIONS in which the "if-clause" is replaced by otherwise or in that case what is the "if-clause" that has been replaced?
Ex. It didn't snow. Otherwise, the streets would be slippery. = If it had snowed, .. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE
Conditions in which the "if-clause" is missing (understood but not stated) what is the "if-clause" that is understood?
Ex. Driving in bad weather would be dangerous. = If we drove in bad weather, it would .. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	REAL/UNREAL? .... IF-CLAUSE ......... MAIN CLAUSE