LessonsThe Rhetoric of Law: Nonoccurrence, Entailment, Hypothesis and TenseQuiz

ConstructionMain forceResponse
لو جئتني لأكرمتكUnrealized visit and conditional honoringExplicit
لو كانوا مسلمينIf only they had been MuslimsWish is central
ولو ترى إذ وقفواEvoking a terrifying sceneOmitted

All three use law but not with the same function. Context, the status of the response and the rhetorical purpose determine the reading; the forms cannot be flattened into one formula.

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Optative versus counterfactual conditional

The Rhetoric of Law: Nonoccurrence, Entailment, Hypothesis and Tense

ConstructionMain forceResponse
لو جئتني لأكرمتكUnrealized visit and conditional honoringExplicit
لو كانوا مسلمينIf only they had been MuslimsWish is central
ولو ترى إذ وقفواEvoking a terrifying sceneOmitted

All three use law but not with the same function. Context, the status of the response and the rhetorical purpose determine the reading; the forms cannot be flattened into one formula.