Condition Without if

A Condition Without if

Level 5

The first clause gives the condition; the next gives what follows from it.

How It Works

Condition First
You miss this bus, you wait another hour. can mean that missing the bus will cause the wait. There is no spoken if, but the relationship is clear.

Do Not Reverse by Rule
The bare conditional uses the condition before the result. Reversing the clauses does not simply preserve the same construction. A result-first sentence can instead use an explicit if clause.

Context Separates Sequence and Condition
Two past events told one after another may be a story, not a warning. Read the time, the speaker's purpose, and the causal connection. If and then remain available when they help make the relationship explicit.

Examples (3)

  1. You miss this bus, you wait another hour.

    If you miss this bus, you will have to wait another hour.

    A warning presents missing the bus as the condition.

  2. You want the window seat, you book early.

    If you want the window seat, book early.

    The first clause sets the goal that makes the instruction relevant.

  3. No receipt, they cannot exchange it.

    If there is no receipt, they cannot exchange it.

    A shop policy makes the missing receipt the condition for the refusal.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Condition Without ifLevel 5A Condition Without if

Learn This First

Recognize an explicit condition/result relation before recovering the relation when if is unspoken.