"If clauses" or "if...then..." statements also follow pretty clear rules as well. In English, these sound like "If I were to move to France, I would need to learn French" or "If he would have studied more, he would have gotten a better grade".
SEQUENCE OF TENSES for IF Clauses
| SI Clause (IF...) | Result clause (THEN...) |
| Si + PRESENT INDICATIVE | PRESENT INDICATIVE |
| Si + PRESENT INDICATIVE | FUTURE |
| Si + PRESENT INDICATIVE | IMPERATIVE |
| Si + IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE | CONDITIONAL |
| Si + PAST PERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE | CONDITIONAL PERFECT |
Present subjunctive is NEVER used in an “IF” clause.
Si tengo el dinero, voy al cine esta noche.
Si tuviera el dinero, iría al cine. (but I don’t)
The MAIN PROBLEM students have with using IF statements is mixing up the "if" and "then" parts - or using the verb tenses backwards.
If I were to move to France, (then) I would need to learn French.
The word IF starts the IF clause. What would happen "then" is the "result" clause. You will NOT have a form of subjunctive in the result clause.