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English Conditionals Guide

The document discusses the four main conditional structures in English: 1) The first conditional is used to talk about possible future events using the structure "If + present, + will." 2) The second conditional talks about unlikely future events using "If + past tense, + would." 3) The third conditional talks about impossible past events using "If + past perfect, + would have." 4) The zero conditional talks about general truths using "If + present, + present" or "present + if + present." Examples are provided for each conditional.

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Christian Galarza Cruz
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99 views4 pages

English Conditionals Guide

The document discusses the four main conditional structures in English: 1) The first conditional is used to talk about possible future events using the structure "If + present, + will." 2) The second conditional talks about unlikely future events using "If + past tense, + would." 3) The third conditional talks about impossible past events using "If + past perfect, + would have." 4) The zero conditional talks about general truths using "If + present, + present" or "present + if + present." Examples are provided for each conditional.

Uploaded by

Christian Galarza Cruz
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Colegio Militar “Eloy Alfaro”

Name: Christian Galarza Cruz

Date: Thusday, November eighteenth of 2014

Course: 3° Bachelor “C”

Conditionals

The First Conditional

"If he catches a fish, he will be very happy."

We use first conditional when talking about possible future events.

Structure:

If + Simple Present, + Will

Examples:

 Lisa will be very happy if she wins the prize.

 If it rains, then we will stay at home.

The Second Conditional

"If I met a genie, I would ask for infinite wealth..."

We use the second conditional when talking about future events that are
not likely to happen.
Structure:

If + Simple Past, + Would + Base Form

Examples:

 If I won a million dollars, I would travel around the world.


(There is a small possibility that I would actually win.)

 If I met him again, I would tell him the truth.


(There is a small possibility that I would actually meet him again.)

 She would quit school if her parents agreed.


(It is unlikely that her parents agree.)

 I would be surprised if I saw pigs in the sky.


(It is very unlikely for me to see pigs in the sky.)

We also use the second conditional when talking about things which arecontrary to
the present facts.

The Third Conditional

"If I had paid more attention, I wouldn't have hit myself..."

We use the third conditional when talking about things which are contrary to the
past facts. In other words: events that did not happen in the past.
Structure:

If + Past Perfect, + Would have + V3

Examples:

 If I had woken up on time, I would have taken the bus.


(What really happened was that I didn't wake up on time, and so I didn't
take the bus.)

 Tom would have helped us if he had known we were there.


(What really happened was that he didn't know we were there, and so he
didn't help us.)

Examples:

 Jessica might have gotten the job if she hadn't been so nervous.

 You could have arrived on time if you had used a map.

 If she had known what to do, she should have told us.

The Zero Conditional

"If the sun sets, it becomes night."

We use the zero conditional when talking about things which are always true, or
generally true.
Structure:

If + Simple Present, + Simple Present

OR

Simple Present + If + Simple Present

Examples:

 If you boil an egg, it becomes solid.

 If you heat something, it becomes hotter.

 I always listen to music if I jog.

Note:
We can use "when" instead of "if."

Examples:

 When I see Karen I always feel better.

 When she feels sick she lies in bed.

 He starts yelling only when he gets really desperate.

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