Unreal conditions refer to :
[1] hypothetical or ideal situations i.e. imagining a scenario that, in the speaker’s mind, is unlikely to happen. They are sometimes referred to as improbable conditions:
(Psycho)
Wouldn't it be better if you put her in... someplace...?
Sam, if you owned a useless business like this motel... what would you need to get away?
It might save me a lot of leg-work if I could just talk to your mother.
(Wizard of Oz)
SCARECROW
Oh, I'm a failure, because I haven't got a brain.
DOROTHY
Well, what would you do with a brain if you had one?
(Fiddler on the Roof)
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan
If I were a wealthy man?
(Cabaret)
Go on, tell me
I will listen
What would you do
If you were me?
All of the conditions quoted above refer to an imagined or ideal future scenario.
Equally, unreal conditions can refer to the present or to the past:
If he were here now, we would be drinking wine together.
If he had arrived sooner, we could have gone to the cinema.
Latin conveys all these ideas using the subjunctive. We will look at them separately:
future less vivid
[1] In the previous posts, the term future more vivid was discussed. The terms future more vivid and future less vivid, although rather clumsy, are the ones commonly used in Latin grammar books.
Compare:
[i] Future more vivid: If you give me the money, I’ll buy a cake; Latin: indicative mood
[ii] Future less vivid: If you gave me the money, I would buy a cake; Latin: subjunctive mood
Even if English does not use a subjunctive form, it changes tense forms to convey the different perspectives of the speaker.
Both sentences describe a possible result, but the shift in verb forms shows that the speaker sees the situation in [i] as more likely than [ii].
[i] the speaker treats the scenario as open / likely = real condition
[ii] the speaker conveys an ideal scenario that is underpinned by doubt = unreal condition
In other words, as soon as doubt creeps in, so does the subjunctive!
[2] The future less vivid conditional is expressed by the present subjunctive:
Sī vīcīnus tuus equum meliorem habeat [present subjunctive] quam tuus est, tuumne equum mālīs [present subjunctive] an illīus? (Cicero)
- If / supposing your neighbour had a better horse than yours, would you prefer your horse or his?
i.e. this is a hypothetical scenario, Cicero supposing a situation that may occur in the future, but which he considers is unlikely to happen.
If your neighbour had a better horse …
In English, the simple past (‘had’) can often be replaced by were to (do something) or should (do something). Although it can sound rather formal or archaic, it is useful to remember that as a way of “testing” what type of conditional is being used:
If you gave / were to give / should give me the money, I would buy a cake.
Sī nunc mē suspendam [present subjunctive], meīs inimīcīs voluptātem creāverim [perfect subjunctive] (Plautus)
- If I were to hang myself now, I would simply have created pleasure for my enemies.
i.e. the character in the play refers to an action in the future – even if it is imminent – but his use of the subjunctive shows that he has no real intentions of doing it!
Examples
Note that translations may convey the subjunctive idea in different ways.
Sī crās adsit, hanc rogātiōnem suādeat
- If he were / should be present tomorrow, he would speak for this bill.
Sī quis eum cōnspiciat, comprehendātur.
- If anyone caught sight / should catch sight / were to catch sight of him, he would be arrested.
Sī auxilium Poenīs submittāmus odium Rōmānōrum subeāmus.
- If we were to send help to the Carthaginians we would incur the hatred of the Romans.
Sī ille eō dēscendat, contrā dīcī nihil possit (Cicero)
- If he were to condescend, nothing could be said against it.
Quod ille sī faciat, iam iam ā bonīs omnibus summam ineat grātiam (Cicero)
- And if he were to do that, he would win the highest favour from all the best men.
Sī illinc beneficium nōn sit, rēctius putem quidvīs domī perpetī (Cicero)
- If there should be no favour from that side, I should think it better to endure whatever comes at home.
