present/past

Question

From a writing challenge:  "I've always done it like that.  If I changed now you wouldn't find them anymore"   ->  "J'ai toujours fait comme ça. Si je CHANGEAIS maintenant, tu ne les trouverais plus".
Why should we use l'imparfait (changeais) when talking about something one might do now/maintenant, why not le présent ?  (Yes, I know it mirrors the English "changed", but English is not my native language either)

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Joakim,

Here it's a question of respecting the Sequence of times.
When expressing an hypothesis in Le Conditionnel, the "if" part of the sentence will always be in L'Imparfait.
However, you could also use Le Présent ("If I changE now, you WON'T find them any more."), but in that case, the second part of the sentence will have to be in Le Futur, and would express a certainty in the future, and not an hypothesis any more (= "Si je changE maintenant, tu ne les trouverAS plus.").

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !