Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Structure and basic distinctions
- Chapter 2 The mood
- Chapter 3 Time reference
- Chapter 4 The fulfilment of the condition
- Chapter 5 Relations between the clauses
- Chapter 6 Contextual conditionals
- Chapter 7 Clause order and possible modifications of conditional sentences
- Chapter 8 Conjunctions
- Chapter 9 Other ways of expressing condition
- Chapter 10 Clauses of condition and concession
- Conclusions
- Bibliography
Chapter 5 - Relations between the clauses
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Structure and basic distinctions
- Chapter 2 The mood
- Chapter 3 Time reference
- Chapter 4 The fulfilment of the condition
- Chapter 5 Relations between the clauses
- Chapter 6 Contextual conditionals
- Chapter 7 Clause order and possible modifications of conditional sentences
- Chapter 8 Conjunctions
- Chapter 9 Other ways of expressing condition
- Chapter 10 Clauses of condition and concession
- Conclusions
- Bibliography
Summary
The relation between the protasis and the apodosis is crucial to the interpretation of conditionals. Generally, I will base my discussion on English examples since the same holds true for their Polish equivalents.
Sequentiality
It seems that by virtue of their nature, i.e. their formal construction, conditionals are doomed to be interpreted sequentially. In conditional sentences the clauses are marked formally with conjunctions (if marks protases whereas then or zero marks apodoses) and, moreover, they preserve a standard clause order (p precedes q), This follows a general rule according to which the condition shall be stated first while what results from the validity of the condition shall follow, the structure is as for a premise-conclusion relation. The sequentiality of conditionals, however, is by no means a simple issue.
Taking into consideration predictive conditionals, that is functioning in the real world context, the sequentiality of those structures may be treated as temporal:
[1] If he asks, I'll help him.
[2] If she tried, she could do it.
[3] If I had won, I would have represented our country.
Temporal aspect means that the sentence describes the sequence of affairs rather than events. It assumes the existence of some interval, no matter how long it is, that separates the events of protasis and apodosis, with protasis preceding the apodosis.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Expressing Condition in English and in Polish , pp. 72 - 80Publisher: Jagiellonian University PressPrint publication year: 2006