Can you use “if past, then past”?
Is it possible to use the past simple in the result-clause of the 2nd conditional?
Is it possible to say:
If I had enough money, I bought a car.
No “numbered conditionals” in English grammar
English does not have “numbered conditionals” — at least, not unless you number them in the thousands!
This is perfectly fine:
- If I had enough money left over at the end of the day, I always bought myself an ice-cream cone. But if I didn’t, I saved whatever small change remained in the piggy-bank on my dresser.
So is this:
- Aw shucks, if he left the house early that night, he did not hear us sing him Happy Birthday from the street corner!
But those two are quite different, of course. The first is habitual, but the second is not. These describe nothing but real pasts (had, bought, didn’t, saved, left, did), and there are no unreals or modals involved anywhere.
You probably meant to ask on our sister site for English Language Learners, but they have their own requirements.