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I came across the following sentence in a Wikipedia article English Conditional Sentences. It is classified as a first conditional:-

"If it rains this afternoon, your garden party is doomed. (deduction placed in the present)"

I'm really clueless how this one becomes first conditional; my gut feeling is that the sentence to be first conditional should end up for a possible future event as follows:-

(If it rains this afternoon,) your garden party will be doomed...

Does grammar allow us to use the simple present tense to mark a deduction?

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  • Present simple in both tenses is actually a zero conditional (if you use that lingo). It is not a possible future event. Commented 2 days ago
  • it does not say it is first conditional on the wp page en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_sentence. It says, "A predictive conditional sentence concerns a situation dependent on a hypothetical (but entirely possible) future event. The consequence is normally also a statement about the future, although it may also be a consequent statement about present or past time (or a question or order)." That article does not use first/second/third. What is the source you are using? vtc Commented 2 days ago
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_conditional_sentences Commented 2 days ago
  • Although the consequence in first conditional sentences is usually expressed using the will (or shall) future (usually the simple future, though future progressive, future perfect and future perfect progressive are used as appropriate), other variations are also possible – it may take the form of an imperative, it may use another modal verb that can have future meaning, or it may be expressed as a deduction about present or past time (consequent on a possible future Commented 2 days ago
  • Is that an answer or a comment? It seems to answer your question well enough (although English doesn't have a simple future tense) Commented 2 days ago

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The conditional is a bit of a red herring. It's more do with the meaning of "doomed".

If I say, without any conditional "Your dinner party tomorrow is doomed!", the tense is present but the party is in the future. This is because of the meaning of "it is doomed". It means "it will fail". The meaning of "doom" is such that we can describe events that are in the future as being "doomed" in the present.

More generally, first conditional sentences are a type of predictive conditional. The hypothetical is about a possible future event or state. The consequence is a prediction about the current state of the future party: it is certain to fail.

"First/second/third" conditionals are not used much outside of EFL teaching, and there is some ambiguity. Some authors treat them as a strict grammatical construction based on a particular sequence of tenses, others consider them a classification of meaning, and any conditional that means "possible hypothesis, and predicted consequence" is a first conditional. There isn't any authorative answer.

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  • This is not first conditional. Present tenses in an if conditional is referred to as a zero conditional in teaching environments. Commented yesterday
  • Some authors treat them as a strict grammatical construction based on a particular sequence of tenses, others consider them a classification of meaning, Commented yesterday
  • You don't even explain how the present tense can be used in an if sentence. Your answer does not explain the grammar of if conditionals with two present tenses. is doomed is present tense albeit passive. As for red herrings, I find that most unhelpful. Commented yesterday
  • The conditional is a bit of a red herring. Commented yesterday
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    The bit about doomed implying something relating to the future is very crucial. If you use a verb or expression that does not imply futurity, it falls apart: “If it rains this afternoon, your garden party is a failure” doesn’t work, because is a failure does not imply anything about the future, indicating that the party is in the present – in which case rain later on in the afternoon cannot possibly influence its success. Commented yesterday
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Sample: If it rains this afternoon, your garden party is doomed. [factual]
If it rains this afternoon, your party will be doomed. [hypothetical]

Two present tenses, one is passive, but still the present tense. The person is stating a fact, not a hypothetical.

"Zero conditional" refers to conditional sentences that express a factual implication, rather than describing a hypothetical situation or potential future circumstance (see Types of conditional sentence). The term is used particularly when both clauses are in the present tense; however such sentences can be formulated with a variety of tenses/moods, as appropriate to the situation:

If you don't eat for a long time, you become hungry.
If the alarm goes off, there's a fire somewhere in the building.
If you are going to sit an exam tomorrow, go to bed early tonight!
If aspirins will cure it, I'll take a couple tonight. [hypothetical]
If you make a mistake, someone lets you know.
In the sentences above only the one with will is hypothetical.

The Wikipedia page on English conditional sentences

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