Question

The story deals with unreal and hypothetical conditions. Some of the sentences used to express this notion are given below:

1. If I fire a bullet from a gun in a given direction at a given speed, I know where it will be at a later time.
2. If I knew the answer I would solve a great problem.
3. If he himself were dead in this world, what guarantee had he that his son would be alive.
4. What course would history have taken if the battle had gone the other way?

Notice that in an unreal condition, it is clearly expected that the condition will not be fulfilled.

Answer 1

1. This is a real or possible condition.
2. This is an unreal or hypothetical condition in the present. The speaker does not know the answer.
3. This expresses an imagined or unreal situation.
4. This is an unreal condition in the past. The battle did not go the other way.