If Than Tense Construction

By Abhishek Tomar on Aug 20, 2009 with Comments 0

Advance level VERB form

IF …. THAN Tense Construction

When ever you find the word “IF”, remember that the sentence is a conditional sentence and require a conditional verb construction. These type of sentences have two parts: IF clause & the THEN clause.

Example

If you drink this water, (THEN) you will die

You will score highly if you study diligently

Note that the word THEN is often omitted. The word IF is not mandatory to appear first in the sentence. If the first part of the sentence is in the simple present then the second part should be in the simple present.

Analyze an IF … THEN sentence, perform the following steps:

Step 1: Find the IF clause
Step 2: Analyze the verb form in the first part of the sentence. Remember NO conditional words should appear in this clause
Step 3: Now find the THEN clause
Step 4: Analyze the second part of the sentence and equate it with the first part of the sentence.