Review of the conditionals: unless, if + not

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك

« You'll fail unless you work harder » — a warning about a real future. « If you were out in space, you would see the Earth as a tiny ball » — a trip that nobody reading the sentence is making. You already know the conditionals; this lesson makes sure you can use unless and if … not, and choose the right tenses for a real condition and for an imaginary one. When can unless replace if … not — and when can't it?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

استعمال ⁦unless⁩ بمعنى ⁦if … not · except if⁩ في الشرط والتحذير
تطبيق توافق الأزمنة: المضارع البسيط بعد ⁦unless · if⁩، والمستقبل في الجملة الرئيسيّة ⁦(type 1)⁩
التعبير عن فرضيّة متخيَّلة بـ ⁦if · suppose + past simple⁩ و ⁦would⁩ في الجملة الرئيسيّة ⁦(type 2)⁩
معرفة الحالات التي لا تحلّ فيها ⁦unless⁩ محلّ ⁦if … not⁩

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

جملة الشرط من النوعين الأوّل والثاني ⁦(if + present · if + past)⁩
المضارع البسيط والماضي البسيط ⁦(present simple · past simple)⁩
الفعلان الناقصان ⁦will · would⁩

1. Unless = if … not

⁦unless⁩ تعني ⁦if … not⁩ أو ⁦except if⁩، وبعدها المضارع البسيط ولو كان الحديث عن المستقبل.

The link word unless means except if or if … not, and it introduces a condition: « I won't speak to him unless he apologizes. » (= except if he apologizes · = if he doesn't apologize) — or, with the condition first: « Unless he apologizes, I won't speak to him. » We often use unless in warnings: « You'll fail unless you work harder. » (= You must work harder, otherwise you will fail.) The tenses are the same as in the if-conditional (type 1). When you are talking about the future, do not use will after unless: use the present simple. « We'll be late unless we hurry. » = « We'll be late if we don't hurry. » The pattern: future simple + unless + present simple = future + if … not + present simple.

Unless at work

Obesity causes a lot of diseases. Unless something is done about it, social security systems will probably encounter a financial problem soon. You'll fail unless you work harder. We'll be late unless we hurry.

Unless and if … not — one meaning

Condition	With unless	With if … not
about the future	We'll be late unless we hurry.	We'll be late if we don't hurry.
a warning	You'll fail unless you work harder.	You'll fail if you don't work harder.
the condition first	Unless he apologizes, I won't speak to him.	If he doesn't apologize, I won't speak to him.

After unless and if: the present simple, even for the future. Unless already contains the negative.

Task 1 — Rewrite each sentence with unless. A. If you don't read the labels, you won't know about the additives. · B. Life will not be possible on another planet if we don't find water there. · C. If nothing is done about obesity, social security systems will encounter a financial problem.

أعد كتابة الجمل بـ ⁦unless⁩ : لا نفي ثانٍ بعدها.

A. Unless you read the labels, you won't know about the additives.
B. Life will not be possible on another planet unless we find water there.
C. Unless something is done about obesity, social security systems will encounter a financial problem.

Unless carries the negative by itself: don't disappears, and in C nothing becomes something. ✗ « unless we don't find » would say the opposite.

2. Imaginary conditions: if and suppose + past

في الفرضيّة المتخيَّلة : ⁦if⁩ أو ⁦suppose⁩ + الماضي البسيط، و ⁦would⁩ في الجملة الرئيسيّة؛ والماضي هنا لا يدلّ على الماضي بل على أنّ الأمر متخيَّل.

When the condition is imaginary — unreal, or very unlikely — we use if, suppose or supposing + past simple, and would (could, might) + verb in the main clause. The past does not refer to the past: it shows that the situation is imagined. Were is often used for all persons: « If I were still at school, I would work harder for my exams. » (But I'm no longer at school.) Unless cannot replace if … not: • when the condition is unreal: « Karim would be our best student if he weren't so lazy » — never ✗ « unless he were so lazy »; • when the condition is in someone's mind: « I'll really be surprised if they don't come back. » · « What shall we do if they don't reply to our letter of complaint? »

The Solar System

If you were out in space, billions of miles away from our planet, you would see the Earth as a tiny ball moving in a wide path around a star that you might recognize as our Sun. You would also see, at various distances from the Sun, seven other spherical bodies of different sizes — the other planets — all travelling in the same direction in almost circular paths around the Sun. Moving around some of the planets are smaller balls — the satellites or moons of the planets. Now suppose you were still in space and that you were looking at the space between the orbits of planets Mars and Jupiter, what would you see? There would be thousands of little planets, or asteroids, also revolving around the Sun. Cutting this way and that, across the paths of the planets, you would see comets — starry-headed objects, sometimes with long tails streaming after them as they draw near the Sun. All these heavenly bodies make up our vast solar system. If you continued to view them for months or for years, you would see that they were moving together through space as a unit, at the speed of some twelve miles a second, in the general direction of the blue star Vega. From the Book of Popular Science and Alan E. Nourse, The Giant Planets

Task 2 — Pick out the sentences which contain if and suppose. A. What do they express? B. What tenses are used? Why?

استخرج الجمل التي فيها ⁦if⁩ و ⁦suppose⁩ : عمّ تعبّر؟ وما الأزمنة المستعملة؟ ولماذا؟

« If you were out in space, billions of miles away from our planet, you would see the Earth as a tiny ball … »
« Now suppose you were still in space and that you were looking at the space between the orbits of planets Mars and Jupiter, what would you see? There would be thousands of little planets … »
« If you continued to view them for months or for years, you would see that they were moving together through space as a unit … »

A. They express imaginary situations: the reader is not in space — the writer asks him to imagine it. B. After if and suppose, the past simple (were, continued); in the main clause, would + verb (would see, would be). The past shows that the situation is imagined, not that it happened.

Task 3 — Write sentences of your own using if or suppose + simple past.

اكتب جملا من إنشائك بـ ⁦if⁩ أو ⁦suppose⁩ متبوعة بالماضي البسيط.

If I were an astronaut, I would photograph the Earth from the Moon.
Suppose we discovered water on Mars; would people go and live there?
If the Sun disappeared, life would stop on Earth.

3. Suppose a comet collided with the Earth

مقال افتراضيّ : ماذا سيحدث لو اصطدم مذنّب بالأرض؟ رتّب الأحداث في سلسلة، ثمّ اكتب بالشرط من النوع الثاني.

The notes and the chain of events

Expanding notes: impact on the Earth's surface — cause a crater — volcanic eruption — climate change — flooding — tsunami — earthquake — alteration of the Earth's orbit — great freeze — extinction of humankind … Chain of events: collision with a comet → event 1 → event 2 → event 3 → final outcome: extinction of humankind

A chain of events: collision with a comet, then event 1, event 2 and event 3 in three boxes linked by arrows, then the final outcome, linked by an arrow to extinction of humankind.

Do this alone, in writing. Suppose a comet collided with the Earth; what would happen then? Write an essay of about twenty lines predicting the consequences of such a collision. 1. List other ideas to expand on the notes. 2. Place your ideas in the chain of events. 3. Select the most pertinent ideas and write your first draft. Useful language: the if-conditional type 2; modals and adverbs of probability — may, might, probably, possibly, perhaps; link words of result — as a result, so, consequently. 4. Correct your mistakes. Check the structure: an introduction, developing paragraphs, a conclusion. 5. Write a revised version.

اكتب وحدك مقالا من نحو عشرين سطرا تتوقّع فيه عواقب اصطدام مذنّب بالأرض، مستعملا الشرط من النوع الثاني.

A model essay

مقال نموذجيّ : أفعال الشرط بالخطّ الغليظ.

If a comet collided with the Earth Suppose a comet collided with the Earth; what would happen then? First, the impact would cause a huge crater, and it might start volcanic eruptions. As a result, clouds of dust would hide the Sun, and the climate would change. Next, if the comet fell into an ocean, it would probably cause a tsunami, and coastal cities would be flooded. Earthquakes might follow. Then, if the collision altered the Earth's orbit, our planet would move away from the Sun, and a great freeze would begin. In the end, if we didn't find a way to divert the comet in time, humankind would become extinct. Fortunately, astronomers watch the sky: if they saw such a comet coming, they would warn us.

Check the model: after if, a past simple (fell, altered, didn't find, saw); in the main clause, would, might or could + verb. And no unless in these imaginary conditions.

In the exam, conditionals are tested in the text exploration: you rewrite a sentence with unless or with if … not, you put the verbs in brackets in the right tense, or you complete a conditional sentence. Have three things ready: ① unless = if … not — never a second negative after it; ② the tenses — type 1: present simple after if or unless, will in the main clause; type 2: past simple after if or suppose, would in the main clause, were for all persons; ③ unless cannot replace if … not for an unreal condition. The frequent mistake: ✗ « unless we don't hurry » → ✓ « unless we hurry ».

What I keep — Unless means if … not: « We'll be late unless we hurry » = « if we don't hurry ». After unless and if, the present simple for the future; will goes in the main clause. For an imaginary condition, I use if or suppose + past simple and would + verb: « If you were out in space, you would see the Earth as a tiny ball. » There, and when the condition is in someone's mind, unless cannot replace if … not.

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