Protasis

Protasis

A protasis is a part of conditional sentence where it states a condition that must be met for a certain consequence or result to occur. The result of protasis is apodosis.

Tenses of Protasis by Martinet in Houben 1976

• Conditional Type 1
  

Number	Conditional	Protasis Tenses	Apodosis Tenses
1	If A is, then B is.	Present	Present
2	If A was, then B was.	Past	Past
3	If A will be, then B will be.	Future	Future

• Conditional Type 2
  

Number	Conditional	Protasis Tenses	Apodosis Tenses
1	If ever A be, then B is.	Present	Present
2	If ever A were, then B was.	Past	Past
3	If ever A be, then B will be.	Present	Future

• Conditional Type 3
  

Number	Conditional	Protasis Tenses	Apodosis Tenses
1	If A were, then B would be.	Past	Would + present
2	If A had been, then B would be.	Past perfect	Would + present
3	If A should be, then B would be.	Should + present	Would + present

Example

If I study harder, I will pass the exam.

If I study harder is protasis and I will pass the exam is apodosis.

The if clause, which sets up the condition. This part of the sentence specifies the condition that must be met for the outcome to occur.

Reference

Crystal, D. (2008). Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (6th ed.). Oxford Blackwell.
Houben, J. L. (1976). THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE IN ANCIENT GREEK. Princeton University.