Conditionals

Introduction to Conditionals

• Conditionals in Greek grammar are sentences that express hypothetical situations.
• They are called conditionals because they usually depend on a certain condition.

Real Conditional Sentences

• Real conditionals describe possible or likely situations.
• They are expressed in the indicative mood, regardless of the tense.
• For example, if he is home (εἰ ἔστιν οἴκοι), I will go to him (πορεύσομαι πρὸς αὐτόν).

Unreal Conditional Sentences

• Unreal conditionals are used for hypothethical situations or events that are improbable or imaginary.
• They typically feature the optative mood.
• For instance, if you were wise (εἰ σοφὸς εἴης), you would not do this (οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο πράξαις).

More-Than-Real Conditional Sentences

• More-than-real conditionals express impossible situations—typically something that could have happened in the past, but did not.
• These sentences usually employ the indicative mood in a secondary tense.
• An example of a more-than-real conditional is: if you had come earlier (εἰ πρότερον ἦλθες), you would have seen him (αὐτὸν εἶδες ἄν).

Note

• In all conditional sentences, the “if” clause is known as the protasis, and the main statement is called the apodosis.
• While understanding the types of conditonals is crucial, it’s equally important to focus on verb moods and tenses for accurate translation.
• Practicing different sentence structures will help you become more proficient in identifying and using these conditionals.