Conditionals & Time Clauses

 

Explanation

 

Ex. 1

Ex. 2

Ex. 3

Second Conditional

We use the second conditional to talk about hypothetical or imaginary situations in the present or future.

In the if-clause we use simple past or past continuous.

In the other clause (consequence/result), we can use would, could or might.

Form: IF + SUBJECT + PAST SIMPLE,  WOULD + INFINITIVE VERB

 "IF   I    WON    A FREE PLANE TICKET, I WOULD   GO TO JAPAN"

-Negative: IF + SUBJECT + DIDN'T + INFINITIVE, WOULD(N'T) + INFINITIVE VERB

   "IF I DIDN'T WORK SO MUCH, I WOULDN'T BE SO TIRED"

-Questions: IF + SUBJECT PAST SIMPLE, (QUESTION WORD) WOULD + SUBJECT + INFINITVE

   "IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO?"

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For the verb be, we usually start our sentence with If + subject + were

For examples:

If I were rich, I’d buy a Ferrari

If he were/ was rich, he’d buy a Porsche.

When we want to give advice, we always use If I were …

Examples:

If I were you, I wouldn’t go there.

If I were you, I’d travel to Brazil instead of Australia.

Things to note!

-Past simple ALWAYS follows 'IF'

-You can change the order of the clauses e.g.

"I would go to Japan if I won a free plane ticket"

-'COULD' can replace 'WOULD' to make the situation less probable

Ex. 1

Ex. 2

Ex. 3

First Conditional

Do these exercises:

Exercise 1: Match the condition and the results to create conditional sentences.

Exercise 2: Read the sentences and choose the best option.

Exercise 3: Fill in the gaps with the right option.

Exercise 4: Choose the right option.

Exercise 5: Complete the sentences using FUTURE or PRESENT SIMPLE.

Exercise 6: Complete the sentences using FUTURE or PRESENT SIMPLE.

Exercise 7: Complete the sentences using PRESENT SIMPLE and FUTURE.-

Third Conditional: no possibility or past unreal

 

 

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.

 

Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win.

	Condition	Result
	Past Perfect	WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If	I had won the lottery	I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.

 

Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.

 

Look at some more examples in the tables below:

IF	Condition	Result
	past perfect	WOULD HAVE + past participle
If	I had seen Mary	I would have told her.
If	Tara had been free yesterday	I would have invited her.
If	they had not passed their exam	their teacher would have been sad.
If	it had rained yesterday	would you have stayed at home?
If	it had rained yesterday	what would you have done?

Result	IF	Condition
WOULD HAVE + past participle		past perfect
I would have told Mary	if	I had seen her.
I would have invited Tara	if	she had been free yesterday.
Their teacher would have been sad	if	they had not passed their exam.
Would you have stayed at home	if	it had rained yesterday?
What would you have done	if	it had rained yesterday?

Using the 3rd conditional  

to express regrets

 Note:  Since the 3rd conditional deals with situations that could have but didn’t happen in the past, it is often used to talk about regrets or things we wish had happened differently. For Example:

If I had studied harder, I would have passed my exam.

[condition]                               [result]

Here, the speaker could have studied harder and the result could have been passing his exam, but in reality, they didn’t study so much and they didn’t pass. It is too late for this condition to become true.

 

Using “- ‘d” for “would” and “had” 

in the 3rd conditional

Note:  In English, we often abbreviate words especially when speaking casually. Both the words “would” and “had” can be abbreviated to “- ‘d”  ( apostrophe + “d” ). This can be confusing when it occurs in the 3rd conditional which uses both words in the same sentence. To help you decide which word “- ‘d” is referring to, remember that:

•   “would” never appears with “if” in the condition part of the sentence. If you see “- ‘d” after “if” it must be the abbreviation of “had”.
• “Had”  can never be before “have”. So if you see “- ‘d”  before “have” then it must be the abbreviation of “would”.   

For example:

 (I had)                                     (I would)

If I’d known it was your birthday, I’d have bought you a present.

         [condition]                           [result]

 

Using other modals instead of “would” in the 3rd conditional

Note: It is possible to use other modals such as “could,” “might,” and “should”  in place of “would” in the 3rd conditional as well. Changing the modal changes the degree of certainty, with “might” being not very sure, “could” being about 50/50 and “should” being very sure. For example:

Using the continuous form in the 3rd conditional

Note:  The continuous form can also be used in the 3rd conditional to talk about unfinished or continuous actions /states that would have resulted in the past, from possible past conditions that didn’t actually happen. The structure is the same in the condition part with “If”  followed by the past perfect, while the result part takes “would” followed by the present perfect continuous form:

[If + past perfect tense] , + [would + have been verb-ing]

[condition]                       [result]

OR

[would + have been verb-ing] (no comma) + [If + past perfect tense] 

[result]                                   [condition]  

For example:

 

EXERCISE ONE

EXERCISE TWO

EXERCISE THREE

Zero conditional

How to make zero conditional sentences

To form the zero conditional structure formed we use the present tense in both 

the condition and result part of the sentence. As mentioned before, these parts 

can be arranged with either the condition coming first and the result second, or 

the result coming first and the condition second:

Using “When” instead of “If” in zero conditionals

Note: Since zero conditionals describe general truths, things that happen all 

the time, you can also use “when”  instead of “If”  in the condition part of the 

sentence, with the meaning remaining the same. 

For example :

If the temperature is 0°C, it snows.

[condition]            [result]

 Has the same meaning as:

When the temperature is 0°C, it snows.

[condition]                                 [result]

Using adverbs of frequency to modify the certainty of the result

Zero conditional structures are used to talk about results that happen depending on the conditional or “if” clause. Sometimes we need to change the certainty of the second action with an adverb of frequency.

Here are some examples:

If it rains,  I always take an umbrella

When the sun shines in Spain, the weather is usually hot.

I never take the train if the busses are running on time.

When I find a good series on Netflix, I often binge watch all weekend!

Ex. 1

          Ex. 2 

                    

                      Ex. 3 

                         

                                  Ex. 4