comfused by one special puzzel of conditinals sentence

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Dear Friends,
I got the problem as follows:

correct sentence:
If you really want to be helpful, then you have to tell me the truth.

Correct answer: (a) have

Your answer was: incorrect
your sentence:
If you really want to be helpful, then you will have to tell me the truth.

I just compare the above sentence to the following one:
If I win the lottery, I will buy you a very big car as a present.

Always looking forward to all of your reply.
Hui

2

Good morning Huhuiowen . I cannot understand how you are showing these two sentences as a comparison. They have completely different meanings.

You could say, " If I win the lottery, I will just HAVE to buy you a car." (Nothing wrong there.)

" If I win the lottery, I will buy you a very big car as a present." ( This too is correct.)

3

Hello Hui,

If someone has told you that the second sentence is wrong, then you have been given incorrect information.
Both of the sentences above are fine. Both are grammatically correct.

Yes, a “Type 1” conditional sentence usually has the present simple (“win”) in the IF-clause, and the future simple (“will buy”) in the other half of the sentence.

However, you can also use a [color=blue]modal verb instead of the future simple. For example:

  • If you want to be eligible for the rebate, then you [color=blue]must fill out an application by July 1st.
  • If you need help with that, I [color=blue]can give you a hand.

Note that it is never grammatically correct to say “will must” or “will can”. However, “have to” is different. You can say “will have to”:

  • If you want to be eligible for the rebate, you will have to fill out an application by July 1st.
  • If you want to be eligible for the rebate, you have to fill out an application by July 1st.

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