"WERE TO" in conditional

Were To in conditional sentence"Were to" in the Present FORM [If .... were to + verb ..., ...] USE "Were to" can be used in the present to emphasize that the conditional form is extremel

Were To in conditional sentence

"Were to" in the Present

FORM

[If were to + verb , ]

USE

"Were to" can be used in the present to emphasize that the conditional form is extremely unlikely

or unthinkably horrible Notice that this special form is only used in the if-clause

Examples:

• If she were to be rich, she would be horribly obnoxious.

It is very unlikely that she would be rich.

• If I were to have no friends, who would I spend my time with?

Having no friends is a horrible thought.

• If Nathan were to be my boss, this job would be intolerable.

Nathan's being my boss is a horrible concept.

"Were to" in the Future

FORM

[If were to + verb , ]

USE

"Were to" can be used in the future to emphasize that the conditional form is extremely unlikely

or unthinkably horrible Notice that this special form is only used in the if-clause

Examples:

• If I were to lose my job next year, I would probably not find a new one quickly.

Loosing my job would be terrible.

• If he were to fail his driving test tomorrow, he would have to take it again.

He is not likely to fail his driving test.

• If Sarah were to show up late to the birthday party, it would ruin the surprise.

Sarah will surely come on time.

"Were to" in the Past

FORM

[If were to have + past participle , ]

USE

"Were to" can be used in the past to emphasize that the conditional form is extremely unlikely or unthinkably horrible Notice that this special form is only used in the if-clause

Examples:

• If the fire were to have destroyed the building, it would have been a tragic cultural loss.

The thought of such a loss is too horrible to consider.

• If the dam were to have burst, the entire town would have been destroyed.

Such destruction is too horrible to consider.

• If Sarah were to have failed the final test, she would have lost her scholarship.

She is an excellent student, and it is very unlikely that she would have failed the test.

Conditional Exercise 11

"Were to" in Past, Present and Future

Using the words in parentheses, complete the text below with the appropriate conditional form,

1 She loves her husband If she (get) w ere to get a divorce, it would devastate her

2 If they (tear) down that old opera house, we would not have any historical

architecture left in the city

3 If the hurricane (hit) Miami, thousands of people might have lost their lives

4 I can't stand him If he (be) hired, I would quit

5 I have no fire insurance If my house (burn) down, I would have no way to buy new furniture

6 If he (be) found guilty, he would have gone to jail for 30 years

7 If the airlines (cancel) the flight, I would never make it to the family reunion on time

8 He was not wearing a motorcycle helmet If he (crash) into that car, he would have been killed

9 If the government (increase) income tax, I would not be able to survive

10 If I (lose) my job, I would use the Internet to find a new one

Answer

Conditional Exercise 11

"Were to" in Past, Present and Future

Correct! Well done

Your score is 92%

1 She loves her husband If she (get) were to get a divorce, it would devastate her.

2 If they (tear) were to tear down that old opera house, we would not have any historical

architecture left in the city

3 If the hurricane (hit) were to have hit Miami, thousands of people might have lost their lives.

4 I can't stand him If he (be) were to be hired, I would quit.

5 I have no fire insurance If my house (burn) were to burn down, I would have no way to buy

new furniture

6 If he (be) were to have been found guilty, he would have gone to jail for 30 years.

7 If the airlines (cancel) were to cancel the flight, I would never make it to the family reunion on

time

8 He was not wearing a motorcycle helmet If he (crash) were to have crashed into that car, he

would have been killed

9 If the government (increase) were to increase income tax, I would not be able to survive.

10 If I (lose) were to lose my job, I would use the Internet to find a new one