Tài liệu A complete English language course part 26 docx

Dialogue 2
Gillian finds Lauren in the canteen at work and sits down next to her.
L
AUREN
: Hello, Gillian. Aren’t you having lunch?
G
ILLIAN
: No – I just wanted to ask: have you seen James today?
L
AUREN
: No, I don’t think so. Why?
G
ILLIAN
: I need to talk to him quite urgently about something.
If you see him, will you tell him to phone me?
L
AUREN
: I’ll certainly tell him if I see him. But listen . . . why
don’t you phone him yourself on his mobile?
G
ILLIAN
: If I knew his mobile number, I would.
L
AUREN
: Ah. [thinks for a moment]
. . . Wait a minute! What about his friends?
G
ILLIAN
: What about them?
L
AUREN

: Well – if you phoned one of James’s friends, perhaps
they could tell you his mobile number.
G
ILLIAN
: Great idea! Good thinking, Lauren – I knew I’d get
everything sorted if I sat next to you!
Language point 82 – C2 conditionals
The verb pattern for C2 conditionals is:
if-clause
PAST SIMPLE
– main clause would /’d +
BASE
-
FORM
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Idiom
• I’d get everything sorted means ‘I’d solve all my problems’; get
something sorted (or sorted out) can also mean put right, put in

order or arrange. More examples:
Have you got the dishwasher sorted out?
= ‘Have you fixed the problem with the dishwasher?’
This room is chaos – how are we going to get it sorted?
= ‘This room is chaos – how are we going get it organised?’
We’ll need to get the tickets sorted by the weekend
= ‘We’ll need to have booked the tickets by the weekend’
You might like to review the
PAST SIMPLE
in Unit 9 – remember that
many common verbs (the strong verbs) have irregular past simples
that have to be learnt.
Let’s remind ourselves of C1 and C2:
[C1] If I see
Amy, I’ll tell her
[C2] If I saw
Amy, I’d tell
her
Remember that the first example is talking about an event that is
possible in the future, while the second one is talking about an event
that the speaker doesn’t expect to happen.
So in Dialogue 2, Gillian says to Lauren If you see him . . .,
because she thinks that is a possibility, but she says If I knew
his
mobile number because she doesn’t know the number.
Here are some more examples:
[C1] If the train arrives late, we’ll have to get a taxi from
the station
[C2] If the train arrived late, we’d have to get a taxi from
the station

[C1] If I become world president, I’ll stop global warming
[C2] If I became world president, I’d stop global warming
The last pair of examples shows very clearly the difference between
C1 and C2 – If I become world president . . . could only be said by
someone who was in the running for the office, someone who had
put himself up for election; If I became world president . . ., on the
other hand, is what all the rest of us would say, because we don’t
expect it to happen to us.
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Be careful! It is wrong to use the conditional form would /’d
in the if-clause:
If he ate the cake, he’d be sick
not ‘If he’d eat the cake
’
If we left by eleven, we’d catch the last bus
not ‘If we’d leave
’
ƽ
Sometimes we can use conditionals to make suggestions – for
example, when Lauren says to Gillian If you phoned
one of James’s
friends, perhaps they could
tell you . . . Here the if-clause is just
there to suggest to Gillian that she does something, and in this
use of the conditional the rules about C1 and C2 are much looser
– all of the following variants are okay:
If you phone one of James’s friends, perhaps they can
tell you . . .
If you phone
one of James’s friends, perhaps they could

tell you . . .
Just as will is short to ’ll, so ’d is the short form of would, which is
used with the
BASE
-
FORM
of the verb to make the
CONDITIONAL
.
Full form Short form Full form Short form
I would /wυd/ I’d /aid/ I would not I wouldn’t /`wυdnt/
you would you’d /ju:d/ you would not you wouldn’t
he would he’d /hi:d/ he would not he wouldn’t
she would she’d /ʃi:d/ she would not she wouldn’t
James would James’d James would not James wouldn’t
we would we’d /wi:d/ we would not we wouldn’t
they would they’d /ðεid/ they would not they wouldn’t
As usual, the full forms are used for questions – would he?, and the
short forms for negative questions – wouldn’t he?. The negative
short forms (wouldn’t) are normal in colloquial English; in state-
ments both short forms and full forms are common.
Exercise 7
Choose the correct verb in these C2 conditional sentences. The first
one has been done for you.
1 If I (win) the lottery, I (buy) a car.
If I won the lottery, I’d buy a car
2 You (be) angry if they (come) home late.
____________________________
3 If you (take) more exercise, you (feel) healthier.
_______________________________________

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4 Helen (pay) the bill if she (have) any money.
____________________________________
5 I (phone) the police if someone (steal) my car.
_____________________________________
6 I (be) surprised if she (agree) to do that.
________________________________
7 If we (leave) too late we (miss) the train.
________________________________
8 It (be) too dark if we (wait) till ten o’clock.
__________________________________
Exercise 8
Correct these sentences. Be careful! One of them doesn’t need
correcting.
1 I’d buy this ring if I’d have enough money.
2 Would you prefer it if we’ll come tomorrow?
3 James would help you if you did explain the problem.
4 What will you do if you won the lottery?

5 Amy would be pleased if she would get the job.
6 I’d invite Sarah if I knew her address.
7 This room looked better if you’d paint it blue.
8 If the guests will arrive late I’d be annoyed.
Language point 83 – ‘I bet’, ‘I wish’,
‘if only’
In Dialogue 1 Ann says to Justine I bet you wouldn’t be happy, and
Justine answers with the tag response I bet I would – we can use I
bet to express a strong opinion and invite agreement:
I bet Amy didn’t pass her driving test! – I bet she did!
I bet you don’t know what I’ve got in
this bag. – I bet I do!
I bet they haven’t seen the film yet. – I bet they have!
or simply to contradict what the other person has just said:
Harry’s not coming tonight. – I bet he is!
It’s too late now to get tickets. – I bet it isn’t!
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I don’t think Dave was interested. – I bet he was!
Your parents wouldn’t like it here. – I bet they would!
I wish and If only are used with a C2 conditional (would /’d) to say
that you want someone to do something even though you know they
probably won’t. More examples:
I wish Adrian would give up singing!
If only our employers would give us a pay rise!
If only it would rain!
I wish you wouldn’t be so awkward!
Notice that If only . . . is the only instance of if where we use would.
You can’t use these phrases for making ordinary requests:
Please open the window for me
= Would you open the window for me?

= Could you open the window for me?
not ‘I wish you’d open the window for me
’
not ‘If only you’d open the window for me
’
Dialogue 3
Sarah has dropped Dave at the station car park. Dave’s got a train
to catch, and he’s late.
S
ARAH
: You’d better get a move on, darling. If you don’t
hurry you’ll miss the train.
D
AVE
: I know, I know. Could you just help me with these
bags?
S
ARAH
: Oh for goodness sake – I told you you’d have too
much luggage! But you wouldn’t listen!
D
AVE
: I need two bags in case one of them breaks, OK?
S
ARAH
: OK, OK. Anyway, . . .
[she stops to give Dave a farewell kiss at the barrier]
. . . phone me when you get to Scotland, will you?
D
AVE

: I wish you’d stop fussing. I won’t phone unless there
are problems.
S
ARAH
: But I’ll worry if I don’t hear you’ve arrived!
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