Hilfe bei Hausaufgaben meines Kindes

[TheSeeker542]

Mein Kind ist jetzt in der 7. Klasse und diese Schulgrammatik lässt mich an meinen Englischkentnissen zweifeln. 
Die Wörter in den Klammern wurden von uns so eingesetzt. Gegeben war eine Grundform des Verbs.

If writers like Bram Stokers (did not exist), maybe nobody (would have told) the story of Dracula.
I thought maybe (If Stokers had not existed) might be an option but that sounds wrong.

And people really (thought) vampires were real?
Many people (believed) in ghosts too. If you (had been alive) back then, maybe you (would have been) scared too.
“Wait! If you (went) on, we (would know) who the killer is and (wouldn't be) interesting anymore.
I have a question here with number 4. I'm torn between conditional 1 and 2 here. Would it be better to just use conditional 1?
5. Of course, I do. I (got) the book last summer. If all books (were) and interesting as that one, I (wouldn't watch) as much TV.
6. "I just love the dark atmosphere when he (takes) the potion...." /Talking about Mr. Hyde/
7. "Guys. I (have not read) the book yet. If I (were) you, I (would stop) talking.
8. It was five minutes before tryouts and Brenda (had never been) so nervous in her whole life. "What if something (went) wrong? "she thought.
Should I just put in "What is something (goes) wrong" instead?
9. When she (said) goodbye to Adam, she (had been) so confident.
10. "What if I (fall)?" She knew the scouts wouldn't take her on the team then. "If only I (had not eaten) that sandwich for lunch!"
11. While she and the others (were waiting) inside the gym, her coach (came) to her and (gave) her a hug. "I know that you (can do) it. You are the best cheerleader I've ever head! But you (know) that these scouts (won't judge) you as a person.


Warum fragen wir nicht die Lehrkraft? Wegen Corona geht in der Schule alles drunter und drüber. Ich möchte einfach selber etwas helfen

[tiorthan]

TheSeeker542:
If writers like Bram Stokers (did not exist), maybe nobody (would have told) the story of Dracula.
I thought maybe (If Stokers had not existed) might be an option but that sounds wrong.

But, your thought is correct. I'm not sure why you think it sounds wrong.

It cannot be the past "did not exist" because that is used to express that something is not real but could be. Well, Bram Stoker cannot not exist, so this is definitely not something that could be real. For things that definitely cannot ever be real you use the past perfect.

A small side note which is not really important in this case and you can just skip it if you're not interested:


I used "past" and "past perfect" here because that's what you will find in most school grammars. This is not technically the correct terminology because the "past" in a conditional is really a form of the present called the present irrealis and the "past perfect" is the past irrealis.

For a student this distinction is not really important because since English has lost the Umlaut the forms are identical to the past and past perfect with one exception.

That only exception is the verb "be". It's present irrealis form is, strictly speaking, "were" in all persons even where the past form would be "was" which you used below in "If I were you".

Now, since all other verbs do not distinguish between both forms, the verb be is also slowly losing this form and you will find more and more people using "was" there as well.

“Wait! If you (went) on, we (would know) who the killer is and (wouldn't be) interesting anymore.

There is something missing in the main clause. At least an "it" like "it wouldn't be" or a different subject.

I have a question here with number 4. I'm torn between conditional 1 and 2 here. Would it be better to just use conditional 1?

It depends on what you want to express.

"if you went on" is speculation about what could happen if the person did continue. You'd use it for example when deliberating whether to go on or not.

"if you go on" treats this as something that could likely happen. You'd use it for example to stop someone from continuing.


Another explanation, and again you don't have to read this and it only makes sense if you read about the irrealis above:


Since the future hasn't happened yet, it is also an irrealis form. Strictly speaking even the "go" in "if you go on" is a future form but since I don't want to explain the ins and outs of the tense system right now you just have to accept my word for it.
This also means that you can find people using will-future or going-to-future in an if-clause.

Should I just put in "What is something (goes) wrong" instead?

Yes you should. This is a quotation, so it has to be the exact thing you'd think in that moment. You wouldn't think "If something went wrong" because something going wrong is very much possible which means type 1 conditional.

In indirect speech this would be different.

9. When she (said) goodbye to Adam, she (was) so confident.

This needs to be a simple past because "When she said goodbye" serves as an expression of time and when you have one of those you usually have a simple tense and not a perfect.

Warum fragen wir nicht die Lehrkraft? Wegen Corona geht in der Schule alles drunter und drüber. Ich möchte einfach selber etwas helfen

Das ist ja generell eine gute Idee. Etwas von mehreren Menschen erklärt zu bekommen ist immer hilfreich.

[stasys]

Hallo Tiorthan, das mit dem cannot not exist finde ich sehr interessant und philosophisch. Meinst du das so, weil er ja bereits gelebt hat? LG und danke, Bon