看了网友的这个提问，我觉得，网友对 “虚拟语气” 有很大的误解。谁告诉过你：“虚拟语气” 一定表示跟事实相反？我认为，网友需首先弄清楚以下概念：

1. 语气，跟时态和语态一样，也是动词的一种形式，表明说话者的目的和意图。

2. 虚拟语气，用来表达说话人的一种期盼、愿望、建议、命令、要求等等。有时候，它是一种非真实的假设，或是与事实不符或相反或不能实现的愿望。

3. 虚拟语气，不仅用在条件句中，还可以用在名词性从句中，以及其他状语从句中，例如，目的状语从句。

我们领略一下英国人是怎样理解虚拟语气的：

It is sometimes said that the English are polite people. This can make life difficult for foreigners. Suppose a foreign boy asks an English girl to go out with him and she says, “If I finish my work, I’ll meet you in the cafe at 7 o’clock.” Is she saying “yes” or “no” to his invitation?

In grammatical terms, she is using the conditional structure. By using the conditional, speakers of English can avoid giving a “yes” or “no” answer to a question. It enables people to be diplomatic. If the girl doesn’t want to go out with the boy, she won’t turn up at the cafe. She will let him understand she is still working. If she wants to go out with him, but doesn’t want to appear too easy to catch, she has achieved that with her reply. But in this case，as she uses the first conditional which shows probability, she is quite likely to turn up at the café. Being polite can make life very difficult?

The conditional is often used by people in the news---politicians, for example---who wish to avoid speaking out their ideas. This is very important if they are on their way to discussing an agreement. No one wants to give away his or her points before he or she starts. A government spokesman might say to a group of workers, “if we could pay you more, we would.” The use of the conditional here makes room for argument although the speaker is using the second conditional form, which shows improbability. So it is unlikely the workers will get their rise.

“If” is a small word, which appears often in the English language. It can show politeness and conditionals such as the First-probability “if I can come to your party, I will.”, the Second-improbability “if I saw you tomorrow, I would give you the book”, and the Third-　impossibility (meaning it is too late to change something that has happened) “if you had told me, I would have helped you.”