You were never taught subjunctive
Because you don't have subjunctive, you have 4 conditionals.

We learnt a lot of grammar at School, both for English and Spanish, and I find very difficult to believe that someone can learn and understand a second language properly without knowing the grammar of his own mother tongue.

I know almost all of your rules (you don't have many), but then I don't use them properly as we were taught all the theory but practised very little.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:28, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I don't know any of the rules.
I have no idea what anyone is talking about and I'm going to try and learn Spanish. I'm doomed.
( girlinthehole, Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:29, Reply)

Spanish is based in grammar
You can learn sentences and you might be able to understand people around, but without the grammar you won't be able to talk it properly.

The main problem I had when teaching Spanish to Mark is that he didn't know English grammar, so I had to start teaching him that to then compare with Spanish's
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:34, Reply)

I might start learning English grammer first then : /

( girlinthehole, Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:35, Reply)

Your grammer is very easy
Only a few rules. It'll be good if you can clearly understand what's a verb, noun, adjective, preposition, conjunction...; if you can tell the times of the verbs and if you know what conditional, reflexive and passive are. It won't take you long.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:39, Reply)

Like Crow I know most of my grammar in English from Latin
though I had a grammar stickler of a father who would constantly correct me until I said things correctly. Though his father learnt English as a second language, so I guess he might have been constantly corrected as a child too.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:36, Reply)

I think it's the best way of understanding a language
and the people who speaks it. Why you only have 3 tenses for the past and we have 8; or why you don't need subjunctive, but have 4 conditional forms...
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:40, Reply)

You see I have no clue how many conditionals we have
I know (ancient) Greek has 6- and I can understand that. It's nice and simple: past, present and future, and open and closed for each. I just wouldn't be able to tell you what the kinds of conditionals we have :(
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:42, Reply)

You have 4
Although one is only considered half conditional, because it's something that'll happen for sure:

zero: If the sun comes out, the birds sing (certain)
first: If the sun comes out, I'll visit you (almost certain)
second: If I were a richman, I would buy a car (possible, but unlikely)
third: If I had been born rich, I would have had an helicopter (impossible)
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:47, Reply)

Ah I see, that's a bit like open and closed in Greek
Open is possible, closed is unlikely (also known as remote)

Of course you can have mixed, but I think that's only mixed tenses not mixed type. Shit I need to brush up on my Greek :(
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:48, Reply)

I don't think you can mix much in English
You can change If for When sometimes, though.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Mon 6 Sep 2010, 10:49, Reply)