CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

A conditional sentence expresses hypothetical situations.

E.g. ‘If X happens, Y happens.’

The ‘if’ part of the clause is known as the ‘protasis’, and the main clause is the 'apodosis’.

These are the 3 types in Greek to learn:

Simple Present Tense:

This is translated naturally with both verbs in the present tense.

E.g. εἲ τούτο λέγω, σοφῶς λέγω = If I say this, I speak wisely.

Future Open:

E.g. ‘If I say this, I will speak wisely’

The apodosis of the sentence refers to the future.

Greek shows this by:

ἐὰν (εἰ + ἂν)+ Subjunctive (Present or Aorist depending on aspect) + Future Indicative

E.g. ἐὰν τούτο εἲπῃ, σοφῶς ερεί = If he says this, he will speak wisely

Past Closed:

This type of conditional tells us a situation which we already know not to be true/ not to have happened.

E.g. If X had happened, then Y would have happened.

Greek shows this by:

εἰ + Aorist Indicative + ἂν Aorist indicative

E.g. εἰ τούτο είπε, σοφῶς ἂν εἶπεν = If he had said this, he would have spoken wisely.

Negatives in conditionals:

If the protasis is negative then the word μή is used.

If the apodosis is negative, then the word οὐ is used.