1 a In the following utterances the speaker is hypothesising:

The following also express a kind of hypothetical meaning, but the hypothetical situation is implied by means of an unstated if-clause:

This is a way of expressing preferences.

On the other hand: I shall go mad if I have to sit here doing nothing any longer (line 9) is less an imaginary situation than a predicted one. It is what is called an ‘open (or real) condition’ as opposed to an unreal one, as in even if we could get there (but we can’t).

b A conditional clause states the condition on which a possible or hypothetical event depends. Conditional clauses often begin with if, and are subordinate clauses – although in speech and literature, as in the case of If it had only been something we could fight, they sometimes stand on their own:

c The text contains the following examples of a modal in the main clause:

2 The examples of would that express conditional meaning are:

• a Would you ever bungee jump?

• d … I would’ve been a therapist.

• e … I would advise against raising her hopes. (Conditional would is commonly used as a politeness marker: its hypothetical meaning makes it less direct.