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70 If I Were: Conditional Sentences
There’s usually a whole theory in textbooks about various types of so-called
conditional sentences – sentences like if I..., I’d... (add your ideas here).
Actually, it’s quite simple. There are two types of such sentences: the first one is
what could be (or could had been) but it’s not (e.g. if I were rich, I’d...). So it’s a kind
of missed opportunity, a wish that’s not fulfilled, and you say why.
In such sentences in Croatian, what was not, but could have been, is expressed in
conditional, and the reason (or obstacle) is expressed simply in the past tense or the
present tense, starting with the magic word da. Such clauses behave like normal
clauses, perf. verbs cannot be used in the present tense. They simply refer to
imagined actions or conditions that were necessary for the other part (in conditional)
to happen. For example:
Da je bilo toplo, otišli bismo na plažu A . If it had been warm, we otići past-mpl
would have gone to the beach. (past)
Da je toplo, otišli bismo na plažu A . If it were warm, we would go to otići past-mpl
the beach. (present)
The Croatian sentences are simpler than English, since there’s no special usage of
tenses. If some obstacle holds now, it’s expressed in the present tense. If it
happened in the past, the obstacle is in the past tense. The other part is in
conditional.
There’s an exception to this pattern: if you express what could have happened with
the verb moći (...) can + another verb in infinitive, you should use just the past tense
instead of the conditional; it works for the past only:
Da je bilo toplo, mogli smo otići na plažu A . If it had been warm, we
could have gone to the beach. (past)
English has also mixed conditional sentences, where the condition and unrealized
outcome are in different tenses, e.g. if we had won the lottery, we would be rich.
moći past-mpl
Since Croatian unrealized outcomes are in the conditional form, which doesn’t show
tense, Croatian sentences really don’t tell when the outcome could have happened.
You can express a different moment with adverbs of time, e.g. the present moment
with sad(a) now:
Da smo osvojili lutriju A , sad bismo bili bogati N . If we had won the lottery, we would
be rich. (past-present)
Another way to express ‘present’ (rather, present-indefinite future) unrealized
outcomes is with kad(a). Now both parts are in conditional:
Kad bih imao puno novaca G , kupio bih dobar auto A . If I had a lot of money, I’d
buy a good car. (present)
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