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Talking hypothetically
Angenommen, dass ...

Using hypothesis

In 'real life' nothing is ever quite as neat as when the rules for it are laid out on a page, but once the general ideas as set out above are clear, it becomes easier to follow how and why native speakers use the tenses they do. First of all, there is no prescribed order for the condition and the consequence. There is also no need to specify both of them in many cases, eg:

• If only prices had fallen!
  (condition or wish for something in the past without the consequence)
• If only it was the weekend tomorrow!
  (condition for the future without the consequence)
• He'd better have the figures ready!
  (condition for the future without the consequence)
• We could still win the contract.
  (consequence for the future without the condition)

There are many words and phrases that can be used instead of 'if', for example:

• supposing that
• what if
• let's say
• imagine that
• say
• assuming that

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