Notes on Conditional Tense and Past Tense Usage

• The class will focus on the conditional tense.

• Example of the conditional: "If I had known earlier, I would have told them not to prepare this."

• Illustrates how conditional statements are formulated in conversational contexts.

Chapter 2: Use The Past

• Discusses the importance of the past subjunctive in expressions that convey commands or suggestions from the past.

• Example Explanation: "If I had known, I would have…" emphasizes actions that were not taken due to past ignorance.

• The structure incorporates advice or commands from someone in a past scenario.

• Key Point: Use the past subjunctive to reflect on situations that didn’t actually happen, but were desired to occur.

Chapter 3: And Notice It

• Emphasizes the use of specific verbs and constructions.

• Example provided: "They wanted us to wash our hands before we touched the baby" does not specify completion (i.e., "touching" instead of *"we touched").

• Highlights the difference in intentions and outcomes based on verb tense and structure.