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Conditional
sentences
128
The conditional in sentences with modal verbs
If the conditional sentence has a modal verb or one that can be used as
such, you can put the modal verb in the past tense or use zou with two
infinitives at the end, the main verb last. Examples:
Als ik tijd had, kon ik je helpen.
If I had time, I could help you.
Als ik tijd had, zou ik je kunnen helpen.
If I had time, I could help you.
Als de film niet zo slecht was, bleef ik ernaar kijken.
If the film weren’t so bad, I’d continue to watch.
Als de film niet zo slecht was, zou ik ernaar blijven kijken.
If the film weren’t so bad, I’d continue to watch.
In most cases, the verb group with zou in combination with two infinitives
is preferred. The combination zou kunnen is equivalent to English ‘could’,
while zou moeten is equivalent to English ‘should’. The verb combination
zou willen translates into ‘would want/like to’. Example:
Als het niet zo duur was, zou ik in Engeland willen studeren.
If it weren’t so expensive, I would want to study in England.
Conditional sentences in the past perfect tense
If, from the perspective of the speaker, the condition was not fulfilled and
will never be fulfilled, if the speaker is looking back into the past on a
situation that cannot be changed anymore, the Dutch use the past perfect
in the conditional sentence. Here, as in the previous examples, we use a
form with zou in combination with an infinitive:
Als ik geld had gehad, dan had ik die auto gekocht.
If I had had money (or: If I would have had money), I would have bought
that car.
Als ik geld had gehad, dan zou ik die auto hebben gekocht.
Als ik geld zou hebben gehad, dan zou ik die auto hebben gekocht.
Note: In the main sentence with zou, either the infinitive of hebben or the
past participle of the main verb can be in final position: