Forming conditionals
Which of these would you consider to be well-formed sentences?
1. If he would come, I’d ask him.
2. If he’s come, I’ll ask him.
3. If he’ll come, I’ll ask him.
4. If he’s going to come, I’d ask him.
5. If he could come, I’d ask him.
6. If he can come, I’ll ask him.
7. If he might come, I’d ask him.
8. If he comes, I’m going to ask him.
9. If we hadn’t been going to ask him, he wouldn’t have been invited.
10. If he hadn’t been invited by us, he wasn’t going to get an invitation at all.
9 and 10 look pretty clumsy -- not something you'd say in casual conversation.
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9. If we hadn’t been going to ask him, he wouldn’t have been invited.
10. If he hadn’t been invited by us, he wasn’t going to get an invitation at all.
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Correct. I'd rewrite these as:
9. If we didn't ask/weren't going to ask him, he wouldn’t have been invited.
10. If he hadn’t been invited by us, he wouldn't have gotten an invitation at all.
xx 9 and 10 look pretty clumsy -- not something you'd say in casual conversation. xx
But are they grammatically correct?
I'm not a native speaker, but here is what I think. Native speakers please correct.
1. If he would come, I’d ask him.
Wrong according to standard grammar, but common among native speakers.
2. If he’s come, I’ll ask him.
Correct.
3. If he’ll come, I’ll ask him.
Wrong grammar. Should be "If he comes, I'll ask him."
4. If he’s going to come, I’d ask him.
Correct. You're telling someone what you would do in their place if he is going to come.
5. If he could come, I’d ask him.
Correct. It's not possible for him to come, but if he came, you would ask him.
6. If he can come, I’ll ask him.
Correct. If it's possible for him to come, you'll ask him.
7. If he might come, I’d ask him.
Correct, but you probably wouldn't hear this very often. You're basically asking permission for him to come from the person you are talking to. If he is allowed to come, you'd ask him.
8. If he comes, I’m going to ask him.
Correct.
9. If we hadn’t been going to ask him, he wouldn’t have been invited.
Correct grammar. Because someone knew you were going to ask him, they invited him. You did not invite him.
10. If he hadn’t been invited by us, he wasn’t going to get an invitation at all.
Wrong grammar. Should be "If he hadn’t been invited by us, he wouldn't have gotten an invitation at all."
5. If he could come, I’d ask him.
Correct. It's not possible for him to come, but if it was possible, you would ask him.
The ones I'd be most inclined to say are 1, 5, and 6. 3 and 8 are possibilities, too. It's not clear how many of these are "correct" according to the standard English Grammar, since I learned English through osmosis, not grammar books.
Note: Of course I'd substitute " 'd" for "would", "gonna" for "going to", etc. in these sentences. Also, some of the most natural forms aren't on your list.
<Also, some of the most natural forms aren't on your list. >
Because I don't need to ask about those.