In these sentences, the conditional clause represents a condition that may be hypothetical/ imaginary or unreal.
These conditional clauses can refer either to the present or future. When this type of clause refers to the present, it is 'contrary' to assumption, and when it refers to the future, it is 'contrary to
expectation'.
eg: If I were the Education Minister, I would abolish grammar teaching.
Present: The assumption is that the speaker is not the Education Minister.
If some one tried to blackmail me, I would tell the police.
Future: But I don't expect that any one will try to blackmail me.
(Study the following example situation to have a clear idea on the usage of this clause.
Rita wants to phone Venkatesh but she can't do this because she doesn't know his mobile number.
She says: "If I knew his number, I would phone him."
This tells us that she doesn't know his number. She is imagining the situation. The real situation
is that she doesn't know his number.)
When we imagine a situation like this we use: If + Past (If I found/ If I were). But the meaning here is present,
not past.
Some More Examples
If he spoke more clearly, people would understand him.
If it weren't raining, we could have lunch in the garden.
If I were rich, I would spend all my time travelling.
Common Sequence Of Tenses/ Structure of Type - II
If + .... + Simple past + ... would / could/ might..
(If clause) (Main clause)
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