Unit 1.

Conditionals

Beatriu Cardona i Prats . Universitat de Valncia

Basic Structure

A conditional sentence is usually formed by

two parts:
an if clause
and
a main clause
When we put the if clause first, we write a
comma:
If I had a car, I'd drive you home
I'd drive you home if I had a car

Patterns (1)

There are 4 basic sentence patterns:

Zero conditional

First conditional

Second conditional

Third conditional

Patterns (2)

And there are 2 mixed sentence patterns:

Mixed 2nd/3rd conditional

Mixed 3rd/2nd conditional

Basic Patterns

The 4 basic patterns can be divided into

POSSIBLE

this is, belonging to the REAL world

or

IMPOSSIBLE/IMPROBABLE

this is, belonging to the unreal world

Possible Conditionals

ZERO CONDITIONAL

Also known as 'general conditional'

We use it for states or events which can

occur at anytime, but mainy in the present

If you are tired, then go to bed

If you drink-drive, you are being reckless

Possible Conditionals

FIRST CONDITIONAL

Also known as 'possible/likely conditional'

We use it for states or events which can

occur in the future

If you are coming to the party, you'll need to

buy a present

If the weather is nasty, we won't go to the

beach tomorrow

Impossible/Improbable Conditionals

SECOND CONDITIONAL

Also known as 'improbable/unlikely cond.'

We use it to describe an improbable future:

If I won the lottery, I'd buy an island

and a hypothetical (unreal) present:

If you were a bit nicer, we wouldn't argue all

the time. (but you are NOT nice)

Impossible/Improbable Conditionals

Also known as 'impossible/past cond.'

THIRD CONDITIONAL

We

use

it

to

describe

hypothetical/unreal/impossible situation in the

past:

This is, it didn't really happened

If I had come by train, I wouldn't have spent 30

minutes in a trafffic jam. (but you didn't come by
train, you took your car)

Mixed Conditionals

SECOND/THIRD CONDITIONAL

We use it for hypothetical/unreal situations

in the present, with a result in the past

If Valncia had better drinking water, I

wouldn't have bought a water filter.

This is, Valncia has terrible drinking water

so I had to buy a water filter.

Mixed Conditionals

THIRD/SECOND CONDITIONAL

We use it for hypothetical/unreal situations

in the past, with a result in the present

If Americans hadn't stepped on the Moon,

we would still think it's made of cheese.

This is, Americans got to the Moon (or so

they say) and forgot the popular saying.