Counterfactual Conditional Clauses

If you had taken our Neo-Ericksonian Hypnosis class before, you might be in a class by yourself.

A conditional clause is one that starts with “if.” A counterfactual presupposes the negation of the antecedent proposition and strongly suggests the negation of the consequent proposition.

In our example it is presupposed that you have not taken the class previously. It says “If you had…” then things might be different, but as they are, it suggests that you failed to distinguish yourself.

Here’s another example:

If you had worn your tie, they wouldn’t have asked you to leave.