Here is another post of some overlapping and clashing grammar points from different categories in the English Grammar Profile. B1 point 72 clashes with the general definition at C1.
B1 Point 42 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as:
‘IF’ + PAST SIMPLE + WOULD, FUTURE, (SECOND CONDITIONAL)
imagined situation, often in the context of advice or opinion-giving.
B1 Point 72 CLAUSES:
conditional subordinate clauses with ‘if’ + past perfect simple and ‘would have’ + ‘-ed’ in the main clause, to talk about imagined situations in the past, often with regret.
B1 Point 47 in the category of PAST/simple is defined as:
IMAGINED SITUATIONS AFTER ‘IF’: the possible result of an imagined situation in the present or future.
PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE:
He would teach me how to cook if he was free. (second conditional or habitual past)
Chinese, Male, Level 3, Writing Class.
*Finding long strings in iWeb is not allowed, so we can start to look for the most common past simple first.
if * _VVD
1 IF YOU WANTED 46530
2 IF I WANTED 35869
3 IF YOU GOT 21226
5 IF YOU MISSED 17898 (but most of these are not hypothetical)
6 IF THEY WANTED 13854
7 IF I GOT 11210
8 IF YOU TOOK 11191
9 IF YOU USED 11127
10 IF I KNEW 10981
11 IF YOU THOUGHT 10837
12 IF YOU BOUGHT 10716
13 IF HE WANTED 10594
14 IF YOU KNEW 10190
15 IF WE WANTED 10076
16 IF YOU MADE 9674
17 IF YOU CHOSE 9044
18 IF YOU LIKED 8948
19 IF YOU FOUND 8785
20 IF YOU WENT 8780
21 IF I TOLD 8084
22 IF YOU HIT 8069 (mostly present simple)
23 IF YOU PURCHASED 8047
24 IF YOU SAW 7655
25 IF YOU ANSWERED 7598
26 IF YOU ENJOYED 7530
27 IF I NEEDED 6974
28 IF YOU ASKED 6743
29 IF THEY KNEW 6733
30 IF YOU RECEIVED 6657 (most are not hypothetical)
How would you respond to this message if you received it from your manager?
businesswritingblog.com
31 IF YOU TRIED 6479
32 IF I SAID 6405
33 IF I WENT 6373
34 IF IT MEANT 5857
35 IF IT CAME 5738
36 IF YOU NEEDED 5725
37 IF SHE WANTED 5370
38 IF THEY GOT 5264
39 IF HE KNEW 5204
40 IF YOU PAID 5202
41 IF I MADE 5033
42 IF I TRIED 4992
43 IF YOU ‘RE INTERESTED 4753
44 IF IT WORKED 4577
45 IF I THOUGHT 4508
46 IF I USED 4350
47 IF YOU SAID 4207
48 IF YOU STARTED 4155
49 IF THEY MADE 4153
50 IF I TOOK 4057
51 IF WE GOT 3950
52 IF HE THOUGHT 3822
53 IF I MISSED 3787
54 IF IT HAPPENED 3725
55 IF HE GOT 3724
56 IF I SAW 3621
57 IF YOU CAME 3438
58 IF YOU LOOKED 3385
59 IF YOU GAVE 3294
60 IF YOU FORGOT 3133
61 IF WE KNEW 3111
62 IF I LIVED 3069
63 IF YOU DECIDED 3002
64 IF YOU FOLLOWED 2974
65 IF THEY CAME 2943
66 IF THEY THOUGHT 2941
67 IF YOU ADDED 2912
68 IF YOU WATCHED 2792
69 IF WE NEEDED 2782
70 IF YOU LIVED 2737
71 IF THEY WENT 2736
72 IF YOUVE READ 2710
73 IF YOU LOST 2675
74 IF YOU TOLD 2649
75 IF I FOUND 2646
76 IF SHE KNEW 2624
77 IF I BOUGHT 2607
78 IF THAT HAPPENED 2552
79 IF YOU PLAYED 2527
80 IF THEY NEEDED 2500
81 IF I FELT 2440
82 IF THEY TOOK 2433
83 IF IT TOOK 2427
84 IF IT GOT 2382
85 IF YOU LEFT 2374
86 IF THEY USED 2366
87 IF THEY TRIED 2354
88 IF I ASKED 2333
89 IF YOU INSTALLED 2321
90 IF IT WENT 2315
91 IF THEY FOUND 2277
92 IF I GAVE 2267
93 IF YOU CREATED 2256
94 IF HE WENT 2226
95 IF THEY SAW 2195
96 IF WE WENT 2174
97 IF I LEFT 2153
98 IF YOU WORKED 2146
99 IF YOU RAN 2104
100 IF YOU GREW 2093
A2 vocabulary:
added, decided, followed, forgot, grew, happened, hit, if, interested, lost, meant, missed, received, tried
If + had + pp
A search in iWeb for:
if * had _VVN
1 IF I HAD KNOWN 3261
If I had known, then I wouldn’t have asked.
2 IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED 1126 (This is not usually in a conditional sentence ‘as if’)
3 IF YOU HAD ASKED 1069
4 IF YOU HAD TOLD 941
5 IF I HAD GONE 828
6 IF I HAD SEEN 745
7 IF HE HAD KNOWN 640
8 IF I HAD USED 612
9 IF I HAD TAKEN 608
10 IF HE HAD SAID 554
11 IF I HAD MADE 553
12 IF THEY HAD KNOWN 522
13 IF SOMEONE HAD TOLD 464
14 IF THIS HAD HAPPENED 455
15 IF WE HAD KNOWN 442
16 IF YOU HAD READ 441
17 IF I HAD TRIED 421
18 IF I HAD GOTTEN 421
19 IF HE HAD SEEN 406
20 IF IT HAD HAPPENED 403
21 IF YOU HAD SAID 395
22 IF I HAD READ 366
23 IF HE HAD TAKEN 366
24 IF I HAD STAYED 360
25 IF THEY HAD SEEN 352
26 IF I HAD WANTED 349
27 IF I HAD BOUGHT 349
28 IF YOU HAD USED 333
29 IF YOU HAD BOUGHT 318
30 IF YOU HAD TAKEN 314
31 IF I HAD SAID 313
32 IF I HAD THOUGHT 301
33 IF HE HAD LIVED 297
34 IF YOU HAD KNOWN 294
35 IF HE HAD GONE 284
36 IF THEY HAD TAKEN 277
37 IF THAT HAD HAPPENED 271
38 IF WE HAD USED 264
39 IF HE HAD STAYED 262
40 IF WE HAD GONE 261
41 IF I HAD ASKED 259
42 IF I HAD FOUND 253
43 IF I HAD WAITED 249
44 IF IT HAD GONE 249
45 IF YOU HAD SEEN 244
46 IF IT HAD COME 240
47 IF YOU HAD INVESTED 236
48 IF HE HAD MADE 232
49 IF I HAD PAID 229
50 IF I HAD WRITTEN 225