Читать книгу Practical Grammar and Vocabulary in the Workplace. Пособие по бизнес-английскому - - Страница 16

We are moving further in the way of conditional sentences. Let’s consider one of the most common types of them-

UNREAL CONDITION OF PRESENT AND FUTURE

You can use present hypothetical conditionals when you are thinking about the present situation and imagining how it could be different.

If I didn’t work such long hours, I wouldn’t be so tired all the time. (but I do work long hours so I am tired all the time)

The structure is simple:

IF + PAST SIMPLE or PAST CONTINUOUS, WOULD/COULD/MIGHT +Vo

If I knew the boss was coming I wouldn’t say so

After if we usually use WERE for all persons

If I were you I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for a pay rise

By the way, here we can use inversion to sound more formal and emphatic

Were I you I’d ask for a pay rise

In formal English if you want to sound more emotional u can use BUT FOR + NOUN or GERUND instead of IF

But for his support we would go bankrupt