EXPRESION TEMPORAL EN LA ORACION CONDICIONAL INGLESA

J . i. . /·lJ\ RTINEZ - DU .. li! A S ESPEJO

The conditional clause lends itself to the study of the expression of time in the verb .

Conditionality may appear under different structures . Therefore, 1\'e have several 1•ays of

determining conditional meaning. In English, conditionality can be expressed by mcans of

items such as·.·, ur: · .·:·, yr·:.;.:~.c·! •:.n.• , using ;m adverbial clause of time hith u;h n , the

usage of syntactic inversion, or the presence of the coordinator r· . :\s to Spanish, there

are also se\·eral l•:ays of expressing conditionality: ;··, the coordinator 1·, a prepositional

phrase a meno..; qu , and adverb ia 1 clause o f ti me w.i th · uar~a·,; , and e ven the presence of a

non-finite verb fonn 1•

Conditional clauses can be defined as structures made up of ti\O elements . Antoine Arnauld

1-:rites that conditions are composed by ti\'O logical premises, an antecedent and a conse­

quent2 . These t i>O premises carry different verb forms , and these verb forms build up the

conditional meaning ; and the problem 1 ies here : the different verb forms, the different

points of time they refer to, and the different tenses or tense combinations . Herc we fo­

cus our interest. Jt goes 1\'ithout saying that these references to ccrtain points of time ,

are rather flexible and thcre are many possibilities of tense sequcnces .

ll'e can start by having a Jook at those clauses 1\here a present or an infinitive preceded

by the aux il iaries ·ha ' 1 · · ¿ • appear .

l . 1' 11 be damncd jf ! ' m the only killer in the courtroom. (In Cold Blood, p. 289)

Que me aspen si soy el único asesino de la sala . (A Sangre f'ria, p . 339)

2. Don ' t let me think of him or 1 ' 11 expire . (Ulysses, p . 2:>8)

l. I'll be damned if ! ' m the only killer in the courtroom. (Ir. Coli.f. BZ:Jod, p . 289)

Que me aspen si soy e 1 Cm i e o asesino de la sala . (,; 0W1;Jl' ( Fr·ia , p . 339)

2. Don't let me th .ink of him or !'JI expire. ('/J .;.· .. , p . 258)

.\o me haga s pensar él que me muero . ( uly.: . ~c ..;, p . 260)

3 . lf you'Jl let me correct those items, I ' ll sign it . (In CJIJ B7~'>~'-,t , p . 255)

Si me deja que Jos corrija, entonces los finnaré . (1i 3ar1!Jl 'P Fr·i-a , p . 301)

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J . L . 1·!ARTI NEZ- DUEf'lAS

4 . lf thcy don't gct it, thcy die thc ¡,•ay you die ~>• ithout air, sidcm<'at.

( '~' hP Gr·apl" ..: v 1/t·a ~n)

Si no los tienen, mueren ... como moriría usted si le faltase , el aire, si no

comiese. (W.:· Uvas de la l l'a )

Thcsc scqucnccs of tenses sho'' diffcrcnt tense rclations and severa! time rcfercnccs .

Thc ¡,•ay in ,,•hich thc vcrh fonns are used is metaphorical : it is an imaginative usc3 . Time

real i ty is di ffcrent to that expresscd hy the diffcrcnt verb forms. Partly, all is about

time mctaphors : thcsc conditional clauscs are facts that havc not actually happened , and

they will only takc place i f a particular si tuut ion occurs . This is ¡,·hat has bccn called

'modus realis' traditionally . The exprcssion of present tense is nothing but a sheer refer­

cncc to futurc time : "lf thcy don't get it, thcy die thc ,,·ay you die ¡,·ithout air. . . " i . e.

thcy shall dic . Thc conscqucnt usually carries an mLxiliary . Thc anteccdcnt has a simple

present tense and sometimcs an auxiliary ". · · ¡,·ithout futurc mcaning . This auxiliary adds

a scmantic featurc of volition , indicating that thc condition dcpends mainly on a personal

decision4.

Attention must be drm'11 to thc second example: In English , the condition is e:Kpressed by

mcans of thc coord inator , r· . On the other h<md, the cond i t ion is expresscd in Spanish by

means of the particle qu• denoting cause ("qw causal") . The English coordinator and the

Spanish "qu. causal" express a condition : 'lf you let me think of him I'll expire 1 Si me

haces pensar en él , me muero' .

The fol101dng text shows a very interesting expression of time :

lf the craft , which holds up to t¡,·enty people, should capsize, it is automatically anchored and eosiJy self rightcd by pulling the handle of an infla table a ir hag that forces the era ft back into a floating position l'ithin fifteen seconds . (:\eh'Sl"Cek , p. 2) .

In Spanish this idea may be expressed by tl\O presents indicativc :

Y si la lancha , en la que pueden ir hasta veinte personas , vuelca, que­da automaticamente anclada y se endereza facilmcnte al tirar de lama­nivela de tma bolsa de aire, inflable, que hace que la lancha vuelva a la posición de flotación en quince segw1dos . (Translated by the author)

The auxiliary .. ; ':J appcars in the 'if clause' in an cmphatic use, having a hypothetical

mcaning5

. fn Sponish, if '"e 1\':tnt to corl\'ey this ~hade of meaning , "·e must resort to the

use of Suhjunctive :

En c¡¡so de que vuelque ... automat icunente queda ancl¡¡da .

.-\nd if anything should go wrong, there's soma . (:l, •,; · ·. ,,J :.;, ,.u , p. 174)

Y si algo marcha mal, sicmpr<' qu<'da el soma . ( 11, ;.;"' • ¡. !i·: , p . 174)

This second cxample shOI\S thc presencc o ra hrpothctio:al ,·,!r,d: , in ~equcncc hith a present

tens<' .

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TI!!:: EXPRI:'SSION OF Tl11.E n: Cü:\D l'l'lO:~~-.L C LI\USES

r,,·o presents indicative are quite frequent in Spanish:

1. Si estamos solos , dejrunos la lámpara cncend ida . (Cien Ar.r,;; Je SoleJ.:1u, p . 32)

If l•le ' re alone l•le ' ll Jeave the lamp lighted . (A T/un:!r·ed Yta r·;; ">[ So 1 it<Ad· , p .32 ,

2 . Puedes seguir diciendo esas cosas, si así lo deseas . (/iueh<-' J Gu ef'l· c.: er> r.J.

l·tu;; , o Cid Pt·J.do , p . 181 )

You can go on and say all you want i f that 's all you ,,·ant . U!iJ~ 1 ar>·l ;./w · in

ih( 1 I·J.do !111.;; v.I'7, p . 220)

3. Te vas a mear si te lo digo . (Noc·ht? ;1 Gu r·l·a en el .'.fll..;e• del l't•aao, p. 191 )

You ' 11 positively piss over all yourself when I tell you . (/Hght ana íla r· -¡.n

ih1 PY.ado /.fll.;:ewn, p . 220)

The first of these examples conveys an obvious meaning of future . The scquence of tenses

in the second example has the ironic meaning of a poli te fonn . In the third example fu­

ture time is expressed by means of the periphrasis 'ir+ a+ infinitive' .

It is interesting to mention that both [;nglish 1·ersions, 1 and 2, express the meaning of

future the auxiliary u · ' . The English version of the third example conveys conditionality

by means of an adverbial clause of time .

In English , the conditional clause expressing the idea of ' unreality ', or to be more ac­

curate , hypothesis of slightly probable fulfillment , usually carries a past tense . This

is , of course , a metaphorical usage , since the meaning in a conditional clause , is far

from past time :

lf l had to do t he t r ip again I ''ould ask for nothing bctter than anothcr such

downpour . (The Colo,;•;:; o[ ~rou;;. i , p . 220)

Si tuviera que repetir la excursión , no pediría otra cosa que hacerla bajo un chaparrón semejante . (F.'l rdo;;o c.~ Mar·us · , p . 244)

:\simple past tense andan auxiliary Wf'!.d.J preccding the infinitive , build up the condition­

al clause6.

An interesting point comes up in the usage of the 1st . and 3rd persons singular od thc verb

to be : both fo1~s was/we~e are used alternatively :

l . lf she ''as just a fly-hy-night, she could have her choice of men . (' I':;og,

p . SS)

Si fuera tma coqueta, tendría donde escoger , entre tantos hombres . {11• ~·:;?g,

p. SS)

2. If it ,,•as spring <!! ld 1;ork to he done , they ''ouldn' t be here . (: h<.' Cl ·.~:'L ··

:·.)·'<ti: , p . 113)

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J. L. !·IARTINEZ-OUEtlAS

Si fuera primavera y tuvieran trabajo que hacer, no andarían por acá. (Las Uvas de La Ira, p. 141)

3. If this tractor 1-:ere ours, it 1<10uld be good. (The Grapes of Wrath, p. 138) Si este tractor fuese nuestro, sería bueno. (Las Uvas de la Ira, p. 191)

These ti\O fonns are widely u sed and accepted, both in the 1st . and the 3rd. persons. Apart

from some subtle stylistic and semantic distinctions, both fonns are used to exprcss a certain type of condition and can be taught without any kind of prejudice

7

But v1here time metaphors appear more lavishly and the imaginative use of tenses is even

"more imaginative", is in the foll01üng type of conditionals:

1 . She 1-:ould ha ve laughted if she hadn 1 t been on the point of crying (Brave New

¡.¡orld, p . 148)

Lenina se hubiera echado a reir de no haber sido por~ue estaba a p~to de

llorar. (Un Mundo Feliz, p. 1 SO) 2. Had Aragon and Valencia rallied to the help of the Catalans the Iberian Penín­

sula of the mid-seventecnth century would have reverted to its condition in the mid-fifteenth century. (Imperial Spain , pp . 3S1-2)

Si Aragón y Valencia hubiesen acudido en ayuda de los catalanes, la península I Ibérica de mediados del XVII hubiese vuelto a la situación de mediados de si­

glo XV. (La España Imperial , p. 383) 3. If it had not been infringed somewhere by someone, you would not be standing

here today . (A Sense of Reality, p. 83) Si no hubiera sido infringido por alguien, en algún punto, no se encontraría usted ante mi . (Un Sentido de Realidad, p . 123)

This set of examples sh01vs the different ways of expressing a condition: the auxiliary

would , a pluperfect, syntactic inversion . The sequences of tenses are not lcss varied.

And now we can havc a look at sorne Spanish sequences:

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l . Si no hubieras leído tanto, no te pasarían ahora estas cosas . (Prohibido Sui­

cidarse en Primavera, p . 273) I f you hadn 1 t read so much, you I>Ouldn 1 t be going through all this now . (Sui­

cide Pl•ohibited in Springtime, p. 29S) 2. Si no hubiera sido por éste no me siento. (El Español y los Siete Pecados Capi­

tales, p. 64)

If it hadn 1 t been for him, I shoudn 1 t have got a scat. (The Spaniard and the

Seven Deadly Sins , p . 47) 3. Si el señor Rafael, en el oomento, me hubiera llamado blando, por Dios que lo

machaco delante de mi madre . (La Familia de Pascual Duarte, p. SO)

Ti!E EXPRESSION OF TUtE Hl CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

But if señor Rafael hao cal Jed me weak at that moment, by God I 1,·ould have

pulverized him in my mother's face . (Ti1~ Famity / Pa.· ·;¡d D-.Aat>te , p . 38)

These Spanish examples sho1' di fferent combinations of verb forms 8. Variety is more conunon

in the conscquent than in the antecedent : there are ti\'O prescnts indicative in sequencc

with two pluperfects of subjtmctive . Both present forms do not refer to a present point

of time , but toa remote possibility in the past .

In English, however , the metaphorical usage of tenses is less "imaginative" in this last

type of conuitionals .

1\'e havc just secn that thc sequence of tenses in conditional clauscs is possible 1\'ith sev­

era! verbs forms, and this has been stuuied and demonstrated by Leslie A. Hill 9.

l\11at can we do as tcachers of English? lt 1,·ould be purposeless to teach all possible se­

qucnces from the very beginning; but it 1\0uld be equally hTong to teach certain patterns

and den y the poss i bi 1 i ty of any othcr combinations. 1\c can encouragc to recognizc the

cxpression of time w1derlying verb forms. Gradually , the teaching of diffcrent conditionals

must be cstablishcd , so that the student can recognizc different conditional clauses 1\'Íth­

out thinking them strange or ungrarronaticnl.

:-.¡O TE S F O R FURTIIER R E F E R E N C E

1 . See especially Jespersen o. A ModeT'n English Gramr.ar on Historic:al Pr>ir:ciples , London, Gcorge Allen & Unwin , 1933 . (Part V, pp . 365 and ff.) . Emilio Lorenzo speaks about the different possibilities oí Spanish conditional clauscs and the prescnt development of the problem . <El Español de Hoy, Lengua en Ebullición , Madrid , Gredos , 1966 pp . 138 and ff . "La oración introducida por si se relaciona lógicamente con la principal , de tal manera que el cumplimiento de la principal depende del cumplimiento de la subordinada de manera necesaria" . Alcina Franch J . Blecua J . ~!. Gramática Española, Barcelona , Ariel , 1975 . p . 1133. "No hay ningún otro tipo de oración que observe con más rigor la concordancia que , precisa­mente , la oración condicional . Esto significa que el empleo de un tiempo en la prótasis limita radicalmente la elección del tiempo de la apódosis" . lo/einrich H. StT'uctura y Fun-C' :ón dr les Tiempo:; en el Lenguaje , Hadrid, Gredos , 1968. pp . 168-9.

2 . Cf. Antoine Ar:1auld , "The Art of Thinking", in Or: Lar.~r<.~.a¡p , e :u.ú to vun !fv.mLvldt, edited by Peter H. Salus , New York , Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc. 1969. pp . 125-27.

3. "The general hypothetical el. acter of conditional clauses is sho>en by the fact that a future time is regularly denoted by the present tense" . Jespersen, ·<!{ . eit . part V, p . 377. "No disponiendose del contexto de una oración conclicional, no puede hablarse en ab­soluto de realidad , potencjalidad o irrealidad ... " Weinricl~, o; . e¿t . , pp . 175-6.

71

J.L . HARTINEZ DUEf.!AS

4 . "In conditional clauses a distinction is made between the construction with and without will , the former implying volition :

If you do that , I ' ll see that you won ' t regret it . If you do that , you will only make matters worse ".

Christophersen P., Sandved A. O., An Advanced English GraJm~ar, London , HacHillan , 1968 , p . 197 .

5 . "Should is frequent in conditional clauses contrary to fact . The original idea of if he :;houZd die , is "if it were fated that he died ", but the idea of constraint by destiny is hcre as elsewhere weakened , and the three expressions , if he died, if he shouZd die and if he were ~ a:e, cometo be nearly synonymous , though they might perhaps be said to represcnt thrce degrees of unccrtainty with regard to the contingency if his death , the third being now , perhaps more frequent than the second" . Jespersen, op . cit . , part IV , p . 333 . See also Christophcrsen P. and Sandved A. O., op . cit . , p . 201 , and Quirk , R., Greenbaun S ., Leech , G. , Svartvik , J . , A Grammar of Contemporary EngZish, London , Longman , 1972 , p . 748 . cf. also Zandvoort R. l.¡ ., A liandbook of EngZish Gr<2Jm!O.r, London , Longman , 1957. pp . 218-9

6 . Cf. Stockwell R. P., Bowen , J . D., Hartin , J . l~ .: The Compa2··ative Structures of English a~~ Spanish, Chicago , The University of Chicago Press , 1965 , p . 146 . Also in Zandvoort , op . cit ., p . 218 .

7 . Sevcral authors deal \áth this problem . l·lcinrich , op . ·ii ., p . 186 , writes on the sub­ject after doing it with the conditional in French , German , and Spanish ; Jespersen , <The Philosophy of Grammar, New York , 1~ . \·l . Norton & Company Inc . 1965 , pp . 266-7) establishes a diffcrence in usagc betwcen both forms . A methodological approach to the problem can be found in Pearce R. A. "Teaching Conditional and Related clauses ", English Language Teaching, n°3 , April 1975 .

8 . Esbozo de una 'lueva Gr·amática de la Lr¡,ngua Española, Real Académia Española , Hadrid , Espasa-Calpe , 1973 .

9 . Hill , L. A.: "The Sequence of Tenses with If-clauses" , Language Lear·ning, vol. X, ns . 3-4 , 1960 .

B I B L I O G R A F I A

Thc examplcs quotcd i n this articlc havc bccn takcn f rom t hc fol lowing sources :

Alberti R.: Noche y Guerra en ~l ?mseo del Prado , Buenos Aires , Losada , Teatro I V, 1964 . !!ight and Yar in the Prado Mu:;ewn, in Modern Spanish Theatre, N e\• York , E. P . Dutton , 1969 .

Bellow , S.: Herzog, New York , A Fawcct Crest Book , 1968 . llerzog, Madrid , Ediciones Destino , 1965 .

Capote T. : In Cold Blood, New York , Random House , 1965 . A Sangre Fr¿a , Barcelona , Noguer , 1973 .

casona , A.: Prohibido Suicidarse en Primavera, Obras Completas , vol . I , Madrid , Aguilar , 1965 . Suicide Pronibib•:ted in Springt ·me, in l.fodel'n Spanish Tnea~r«, New York, E . P.

Dutto Dutton , 1969 .

Cela , C. J .: La Familia dt:: Pascual Duar·t~c·, Hadrid , Ediciones Destino , 1977 . The Family of Pascual Duarte, Ncw York , Avon , 1966 .

Elliot , J . H. : Imper1:az Spain, London , Penguin , 1970 . lA España Imperial , Barcelona , Vicent Vives , 1965 .

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THE EXPRESSION OF TI~ffi IN CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

oíaz-Plaja , F.: El Español y los Siete Pecados Capitales , Madrid , Alianza Editorial , 1966 . The Spaniard and the Seven Deadly Sins , London , Pan Books , 1967 .

Garc í a ~larquez , G. : Cien Años de Soledad, Buenos Aires , Editorial Sudamericana , 1969 . A Hundred Years of Solitude, London , Penguin , 1972 .

Gr eene , G.: A Sense of Reality, London , Penguin , 1968 . Un Sentido de Realidad, Barcelona , Plaza y Janés , 1968 .

Huxley , A.: 8J'ave flew 1•/orld, London , Penguin , 1969 .

Joyce J .

Miller H.

Un !~ndo Feliz , Barcelona , Plaza y Janés , 1969 .

iJlysse:~, London , Penguin , 1968 UZises, Buenos Aires , Santiago Rueda .

The Colosuo of t~roussi, London , Penguin , 1950 El Coloso de MaPusi , Barcelona , Barral .

Steinbeck J . The Grapes of Wrath, London , Penguin , 1972 . Las Uvas le la Ira, Barcelona , Planeta , 1969

!lewsweek, October 10 , 1977 .

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