If...Then....Do you always need the "if"?

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Hi forum,

I am just studying verb tenses including hypothetical "if...then" phrases.
I came across a sentence which is clearly hypothetical but does not use an "if". So I just wanted to know if the "if" is always needed or not?

Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco was also of interest to the French throughout the first half of the twentieth century because they assumed that without it their grip an Algeria would never be secure.

Thanks a lot in advance
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by vinay1983 » Sun Sep 01, 2013 8:51 am
123nobody321 wrote:Hi forum,

I am just studying verb tenses including hypothetical "if...then" phrases.
I came across a sentence which is clearly hypothetical but does not use an "if". So I just wanted to know if the "if" is always needed or not?

Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco was also of interest to the French throughout the first half of the twentieth century because they assumed that without it their grip an Algeria would never be secure.

Thanks a lot in advance

Are you sure of what you are asking?I could not locate any "if" centered phrase or sentence here!
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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by 123nobody321 » Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:03 am
Hi, thanks for the reply.

Actually you are right, I should have explained it a little better.
I am studying the verb tenses and this sentence has 4 answer choices with an "if" in it. The only one (which is correct) does not have an "if". So I was wondering if an "if" can left out too...

Does that make more sense? :)

Best,
nobody

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by vinay1983 » Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:44 pm
It depends on the context.Here if might not help, there is no need to use if here.

"If I would have been in your shoes, then I would have run for my life"
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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