using If then clause

[M3]

Hello-

In Manhattan GMAT SC guide, there is a section devoted to explaining how to tackle If..then structure i.e. if she studies, she will do well on the test

Does this rule still apply if the construction is appositive?

For example, in the following sentence: "Money, when not spent wisely, can become a problem." The bolded portion is appositive and I am not sure whether we can still apply the if ..then rule that the guide has. According to the guide, if we are in the past tense, we should use "would" or "could"

[Guest]

Hello-

In Manhattan GMAT SC guide, there is a section devoted to explaining how to tackle If..then structure i.e. if she studies, she will do well on the test

Does this rule still apply if the construction is appositive?

For example, in the following sentence: "Money, when not spent wisely, can become a problem." The bolded portion is appositive and I am not sure whether we can still apply the if ..then rule that the guide has. According to the guide, if we are in the past tense, we should use "would" or "could"

Sorry- Meant to say IF not spend wisely

[Guest]

Hello-

In Manhattan GMAT SC guide, there is a section devoted to explaining how to tackle If..then structure i.e. if she studies, she will do well on the test

Does this rule still apply if the construction is appositive?

For example, in the following sentence: "Money, when not spent wisely, can become a problem." The bolded portion is appositive and I am not sure whether we can still apply the if ..then rule that the guide has. According to the guide, if we are in the past tense, we should use "would" or "could"

Sorry- Meant to say IF not spent wisely

......

Sorry- Meant to say IF not SPENT wisely......

[JonathanSchneider]

Interesting question. First of all, the type of phrase that you are describing is not really an appositive. An appositive is a noun that is used to describe another noun.

What might be giving you trouble with this phrase, however, has more to do with the word "spent." Are you thinking of this as a verb? If so, be careful. Although "spent" may appear to be a past-tense verb, it is not. Rather, it is merely the past participle, functioning here as an adjective.

Moreover, the particular phrase you have written, "when not spent wisely," indicates a sort of universal time-frame. This calls for the present tense in the actual verb, because we use the present to express a universal truth.

[crackgmat09]

I think one can use IF also. When shows a time context while IF shows a condition.
I agree with Jonathan....See this " Money saved is Money Earned". Money Saved is used as a noun here.

[JonathanSchneider]

Agreed. We could say: "Money, if not spent wisely..." However, as we are now constructing a conditional statement, we are most likely to follow up with: "... can/could/will become a problem." We would probably not use "would" here because the "if" portion does not imply the past tense.