Protasis

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Protasis

A protasis is a part of conditional sentence where it states a condition that must be met for a certain consequence or result to occur. The result of protasis is apodosis.

Tenses of Protasis by Martinet in Houben 1976
  • Conditional Type 1
Number Conditional Protasis Tenses Apodosis Tenses
1 If A is, then B is. Present Present
2 If A was, then B was. Past Past
3 If A will be, then B will be. Future Future
  • Conditional Type 2
Number Conditional Protasis Tenses Apodosis Tenses
1 If ever A be, then B is. Present Present
2 If ever A were, then B was. Past Past
3 If ever A be, then B will be. Present Future
  • Conditional Type 3
Number Conditional Protasis Tenses Apodosis Tenses
1 If A were, then B would be. Past Would + present
2 If A had been, then B would be. Past perfect Would + present
3 If A should be, then B would be. Should + present Would + present


Example

If I study harder, I will pass the exam.

If I study harder is protasis and I will pass the exam is apodosis.

The if clause, which sets up the condition. This part of the sentence specifies the condition that must be met for the outcome to occur.

Reference

Crystal, D. (2008). Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (6th ed.). Oxford Blackwell.
Houben, J. L. (1976). THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE IN ANCIENT GREEK. Princeton University.