A point that we must remember about grammar is that it's a tool to provide structure to our "meaning". Well, we first have to know what we want to say or, in other words have, "meaning". And then have the correct word and sentence patterns to give our meanings form and structure. Here you'll find some of the structures that present a lot of difficulty for Filipinos. More often than not, Tagalog has a similar structure to what's enumerated here but Tagalog expressions doesn't always have a direct translation in English, and vice-versa.
Grammar point: IF Conditional
This is a useful grammatical structure for explaining and defining real and imaginary situations. We use this a lot. However, the English structure for this is way more complex than Tagalog and it's used is some ways that we
IF conditional statements always have two parts: the condition and the result. There are different ways to use it though, which can be tricky. What follows is a simplified explanation.
| Use | Conditional structure | Result structure |
| Fact | If + noun + verb (present tense) | then + noun + verb (present tense) |
| similar to "when" | If it rains, | then the roads get wet. |
| expresses certainty | If the skies are clear, | then it's easier to dry clothes. |
| If a client has a question, | we have an answer. | |
| Possibility | If + noun | then + will/may/might/can/should + verb |
| expresses what might happen | If you arrive late, | you will be fined $5. |
| If I get invited to the meeting | I will ask a lot of questions. | |
| Impossibility, Unlikelihood | If + noun + modal/verb (past tense) | then + noun + past modal + verb |
| little chance of happening | {.000001% chance} If I won the Grand Lotto, | I could travel anywhere I want. |
| imagined current situations | {the speaker is a girl} If I were a boy, | I would turn off my phone. |
| {a man can't be in 2 places at
one time} If a man could be in two places at one time, |
I would be with you. | |
| {the router isn't broken} If the router was broken | we would repair it. | |
| Imagined PAST situations | If + noun + had + verb (past participle) | then + noun + past modal + have + verb (pp) |
| expresses opposite past event | (was hired) If she hadn't been hired here, | she would have gotten a job elsewhere. |
| (was conquered) If the Philippines had not been conquered by the Americans, |
the Spaniards would have
ruled for four centuries. |
|
| expresses regret | (failed Math) If I hadn't failed math in college, | I could have graduated with honors. |
