Gebruik van "Unless"

Unless betekent hetzelfde als if...not. Net als if, wordt unless gevolgd door een tegenwoordige tijd, een verleden tijd of een voltooid verleden tijd (nooit door een voorwaardelijke tijd). Unless wordt gebruikt in plaats van if...not in voorwaardelijke zinnen van alle soorten. De volgorde van de zinnen maakt niet uit bij zinnen waarin unless gebruikt wordt.

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Type 1 voorwaardelijk: Unless + present tense

Met If	Equivalent met Unless
You will be sick if you don't stop eating.	You'll be sick unless you stop eating.
I won't pay if you don't provide the goods immediately.	I won't pay unless you provide the goods immediately.
If you don't study dilligently, you'll never understand trigonometry.	Unless you study dilligently, you'll never understand trigonometry.

Type 2 voorwaardelijk: Unless + verleden tijd

Met If	Equivalent met Unless
If he wasn't very ill, he would be at work.	Unless he was very ill, he would be at work.
I wouldn't eat that food if I wasn't really hungry.	I wouldn't eat that food unless I was really hungry.
She would be here by now if she wasn't stuck in traffic.	She would be here by now unless she was stuck in traffic.

Type 3 voorwaardelijk: Unless + voltooid verleden tijd

Met If	Equivalent met Unless
Our director would not have signed the contract if she hadn't had a lawyer present.	Our director would not have signed the contract unless she had had a lawyer present.
I wouldn't have phoned him if you hadn't suggested it.	I wouldn't have phoned him unless you'd suggested it.
They would have shot her if she hadn't given them the money.	They would have shot her unless she'd given them the money.