Sentences with the meaning of irreal condition in K. G. Paustovsky's The Tale of Life

The purpose of the article is to identify and describe structural, semantic and functional features of irreal-conditional complex sentences with the conjunction «если» (if) in the autobiographical Tale of Life by K. G. Paustovsky. In the introduction, the author notes the important role of syntactic units in expressing the author's intention in autobiographical text, and points out the constant scientific interest in studying the functioning of complex subordinate sentences with conditional meaning in texts of different styles in both synchronic and diachronic aspects. The main part of the article defines the irreal condition and notes that a formal indicator of its semantics in a complex sentence is the presence of the form with the particle «бы» (would) in the main and subordinate clauses. Attention is drawn to the complication of the irreal condition meaning with various connotations: desirability, supposition, possibility, concession, comparison, as well as a phatic aspect. Each structural-semantic type of sentences is analyzed in terms of specific semantics, structure, ways of expressing the main sentence parts, and lexical content. The author names the means of strengthening the semantics of the irreal condition, including particles, interjections, exclamatory intonation, etc. The conclusion is made that the use of sentences of this type in an autobiographical text, on the one hand, allows the author to convey the message of the work as accurately as possible, to express his perception of events and the characters' thoughts and intentions. On the other hand, the use of sentences with the conjunction «если» (if) with the meaning of irreal condition, with different semantic connotations, shows the capacity of the modern Russian grammar system, which allows the speaker or writer to convey the finest shades of meaning in portraying objective reality.