CONDITIONALS
GENERAL POINTS
l El uso del condicional significa que una acción
depende de otra (o está condicionada por otra).
l Por lo tanto, habrá dos partes:
--- Frase condicional (If…) + ---Frase de resultado:
“If it rains, streets get wet”
l El orden de las dos frases es flexible, pero si la frase
condicional va primero, ponemos una coma.
ZERO CONDITIONAL
If you don’t water flowers, they die.
If you have a headache, stop watching TV.
If clause: Main clause:
PRESENT PRESENT
SIMPLE SIMPLE or
IMPERATIVE
Lo usamos para expresar verdades generales o para dar
consejos.
FIRST CONDITIONAL
If the weather is nice, we will go for a walk.
If you don’t apologize, she will never trust you again.
If clause: Main clause:
PRESENT FUTURE
SIMPLE SIMPLE
-El ‘first conditional’ se refiere tanto al presente como al
futuro.
- Expresa una condición posible, y su posible resultado
en el futuro.
l Dado que ‘will’ se puede considerar un modal, a
veces puede verse sustituido por ‘can’, ‘may’ o
‘must’:
If the weather is cold, you must wear warm
clothes.
If he doesn’t do his homework, he can not go to the
party.
Unless
*As long as
= ‘Si no’ / ‘A no ser que…’
l Podemos expresar condiciones en
negativo usando ‘if…not’ o ‘Unless’:
If you don’t apologize, she will never trust you again.
Unless you apologize, she will never trust you again.
***Transform the following sentences using ‘Unless’:
- You will be sick if you don't stop eating.
- I won't pay if you don't provide the goods immediately.
- If you don't study dilligently, you'll never understand trigonometry.
SECOND CONDITIONAL
If I had a lot of money, I would buy a big house.
If I knew his number, I would phone him.
main clause:
if-clause:
PAST SIMPLE would +
infinitive
El segundo condicional se refiere tanto al presente como al futuro.
Expresa una situación improbable, imaginaria o contraria a los hechos
que conocemos + su posible resultado.
• Dado que ‘would’ se puede considerar un
modal, a veces puede verse sustituido por
‘could’ o ‘might’:
qIf it were not raining, we could go out.
qIf they worked for that company, they might have
better salaries.
*¡IMPORTANTE!*
• ***En el segundo condicional, utilizamos
‘WERE’ para todas las personas, incluídas ‘I’,
‘he’, ‘she’ y ‘it’:
- If she were happy in her job, she wouldn't be
looking for another one.
- If they were to enter our market, we'd have big
problems.
• Normalmente, ‘WERE’ se usa para dar consejos:
- If I were you, I’d look for a new place to live.
***Transform the following sentences using
‘Unless’:
q If he wasn't very ill, he Unless he was very ill, he
would be at work. would be at work.
q I wouldn't eat that food if I wouldn't eat that food
I wasn't really hungry. unless I was really
hungry.
q She would be here by now She would be here by now
if she wasn't stuck in unless she was stuck in
traffic. traffic.
SECOND CONDITIONAL
Jack wants to buy a house but he can’t do this because he
doesn’t have any money.
If I had a lot of
money,
I would buy a big
house.
SECOND CONDITIONAL
Susan wants to phone Paul but she can’t do this because
she doesn’t know his number.
If I knew his
number,
I would phone him.
SECOND CONDITIONAL: Other examples
FIRST vs. SECOND CONDITIONAL
If John runs fast, he will win the race.
This is still possible to happen.
If John ran fast, he would win the race.
This is unlikely to happen because John doesn’t run fast.
THE DIFFERENCE: FIRST and SECOND CONDITIONAL
Both conditionals refer to the present and future.
The difference is about probability, not time.
First conditional: real and possible situations
Second conditional: unlikely to happen
THIRD CONDITIONAL
If I had had a lot of money, I would have bought a big house.
If I had known his number, I would have phoned him.
if-clause: main clause:
PAST PERFECT would + have + past
participle
En este caso, el tercer condicional se refiere al pasado y
no está basado en hechos (es algo IMPOSIBLE de cambiar).
THIRD CONDITIONAL
Jack wanted to buy a house last year but he couldn’t do that because
he didn’t have any money.
If I had had a lot of money,
I would have bought
a big house.
THIRD CONDITIONAL
Yesterday, Susan wanted to phone Paul but she couldn’t do that because
she didn’t know his number.
If I had known his number,
I would have phoned him.
l Transform with ‘Unless’:
q Our director would not have Our director would not have
signed the contract if she signed the contract unless she
hadn't had a lawyer present. had had a lawyer present.
q I wouldn't have phoned him I wouldn't have phoned him
if you hadn't suggested it. unless you'd suggested it.
q They would have shot her if They would have shot her unless
she hadn't given them the she'd given them the money.
money.
SECOND vs. THIRD CONDITIONAL
If I saw a car accident, I would call an ambulance.
But I don’t see an accident now. This is unlikely to happen.
If I had seen a car accident, I would have called an ambulance.
But I didn’t see an accident yesterday.
This is contrary to the fact in the past.
THE DIFFERENCE: SECOND and THIRD CONDITIONAL
The difference is about time.
Second conditional: refers to the present and future
Third conditional: refers to the past situations (impossible to
change)
Summary
Type IF-clause Main clause
will-future
I Simple Present
- ‘can’/‘may’/‘must’ + infinitive)
would + infinitive (or ‘could’/’might’
II Simple Past
+ infinitive)
III Past Perfect would + have + past participle *
Summary
Type Examples
long forms short/contracted forms
If I study, I'll pass the
+ If I study, I will pass the exam. exam.
I If I study, I will not fail the exam. If I study, I won't fail the
exam.
- If I do not study, I will fail the exam. If I don't study, I'll
fail the exam.
If I studied, I'd pass the
+ If I studied, I would pass the exam. exam.
If I studied, I wouldn't
II
-
If I studied, I would not fail the exam. fail the exam.
If I did not study, I would fail the exam. If I didn't study, I'd
fail the exam.
+
If I had studied, I would have passed the If I'd studied, I'd have
exam. passed the exam.
III
If I had studied, I would not have failed the
If I'd studied, I wouldn't
exam. have failed the exam.
-
If I had not studied, I would have failed the If I hadn't studied, I'd
have failed the exam
ALL CONDITIONALS
0. If you drive carefully, you avoid accidents.
General time reference.
1. If you drive carefully, you will avoid an accident tomorrow.
This is still possible to happen.
2. If you drove carefully, you would avoid the accident today.
But you don’t drive carefully. This is unlikely to happen.
3. If you had driven carefully, you would have avoided the accident
yesterday.
But he didn’t drive carefully, so he didn’t avoid the accident.
THE END
