Conditional Sentences

The pairings, at a glance

Smyth classifies by time first, and gives three kinds under each. This is his own table, rebuilt from his cells.

Each one in use

When the “if” clause will not decide

Three of the six forms come into English as the same four words, if you do this. Nothing in the “if” clause separates them. Smyth says outright what does.

So read the apodosis first. A future indicative there makes the protasis vivid; a present indicative makes it general; ἄν with a past indicative makes it unreal, and ἄν with an optative makes it remote. The “if” clause tells you the mood; the conclusion tells you the meaning.

Identify

• Find the two clauses first. The protasis is not always first, and either can be a participle rather than a clause.
• Then the particle: εἰ takes the indicative or the optative, ἐᾱ́ν takes the subjunctive and nothing else.
• Then look for ἄν in the apodosis. It appears in exactly two of the six — the unreal and the less vivid future — and it is the fastest thing on the page to check.
• A general condition is known by its conclusion, not its “if” clause: a repeated or habitual action, or a general truth.

Rule out

Three checks, and they run on the apodosis, not the protasis.

1. Is there ἄν in the apodosis?

   Then it is unreal or less vivid future, and the mood decides which: a past indicative for the unreal, an optative for the remote future. No other form carries it.

   Past indicative → unreal. Optative → less vivid future.

   Smyth §2303, Smyth §2329

2. Is the apodosis a present indicative, with a subjunctive or optative in the protasis?

   Then it is general, and the tense of the apodosis says which: present for the fifth form, imperfect for the sixth. The conclusion is a habit or a standing truth, not a single event.

   γελᾷ δ᾽ ὁ μῶρος, κᾱ̓́ν τι μὴ γελοῖον ᾖ The fool laughs even if there is nothing to laugh at Men. Sent. 108 · Smyth §2337

   Present → present general. Imperfect → past general.

   Smyth §2335, Smyth §2337, Smyth §2340

3. No ἄν, but ἔδει or ἐξῆν in the apodosis?

   Then it is still unreal. The impersonal carries the unfulfilled obligation by itself, so the particle is dropped, and the emphasis falls on the infinitive.

   εἰ ταῦτα ἐποίει, ἔδει (ἐξῆν) αἰτιᾶσθαι αὐτόν If he were doing this (as he is not), one ought to (might) blame him Smyth’s schematic · Smyth §2313

   Still unreal — do not read it as simple.

   Smyth §2313

Variants

What the unreal implies

Smyth prints the implied opposite beside each unreal schematic.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐποίησας

But you did not do this

the opposite implied by the aorist · Smyth §2305

The pluperfect

Rare, and used only when the completion of the act, or the state that followed it, is what matters.

εἰ ταῦτα ἐπεποιήκης, καλῶς ἂν ἐπεποιήκης

If you had finished doing this (now or on any past occasion), you would have done well

Smyth’s schematic · Smyth §2306

Two forms in one sentence

A period can carry more than one form, as the thought requires — here an unreal about the past and a vivid future about what follows.

ταὐτὸ τοίνυν τοῦτ᾽ ἂν ἐποίησε Φίλιππος, εἴ τινα τούτων εἶδε δίκην δόντα, καὶ νῦν, ᾱ̓̀ν ἴδῃ, ποιήσει

This very same thing then Philip would have done, if he had seen any one of these men being punished; and will do so now, if he sees it

D. 19.138 · Smyth §2343