Introduction: the analysis and purpose of conditional sentences. In any language, the ability to construct or translate conditional sentences is amongst the more demanding challenges which grammar sets us. Conditionals are more complex than other types of adverbial clause, because in the sentences in which they occur, careful attention has to be given to both clauses. A Conditional sentence consists of two clauses: (i) a subordinate adverbial clause, called the 'protasis', which expresses the condition or premise; and (ii) a main clause, called the 'apodosis' or consequence, which states what stems from that condition and therefore naturally follows after it in order of time. The 'protasis', in English the 'if-clause', is dependent, and expresses a supposition or imaginary event; the 'apodosis' is the principal clause, and states what will be the outcome if the 'protasis' is realised.