Professional Documents
Culture Documents
If only
This adds emphasis to hypothetical situations. The second part of the sentence
is often left out.
If only he would drive more slowly! (hope, wish)
If only I had enough time! (wish in the present)
If only I hadn’t drunk so much, this would have never happened!(regret about
the past)
Mixed conditionals
If Jim hadn’t missed the plane, he would be here by now. (past events with
results in the present)
If Jim weren’t so poor, he would have gone to university. (unreal situation in
the present, a different past result)
Should
After if, this makes the possibility of an event seem unlikely.
If you should see Ann, could you ask her to call me? (implies that I don’t
expect you to see Ann)
Inversion ( if is omitted)
Should you see Ann, could you ask her to call me?
Were I in his shoes, I would refuse.
Had you listened to me, nothing of this would have happened.
In Indirect Speech
In type 0 and type 1 conditionals, tenses change according to the rules of the
sequence of tenses:
0: If you melt ice, it turns into water.
The teacher said that if you melt ice, it turns into water.(general truth)
But: If you see Ann, tell her to come home.
He told me that if I saw Ann, I was to tell her to go home.
1: If it rains, we’ll take the bus.
He told me that if it rained, we would take the bus.
STAGE 2 / ACTIVITY 2
LEVEL: Intermediate
AGE: 14-16 year-old students
ESTIMATED TIME: 10 minutes
AIM: to allow students to recognize and practice the types of conditional
clauses, by using the appropriate verb forms.
STAGE 3 / ACTIVITY 3
LEVEL: Intermediate
AGE: 14-16 year-old students
ESTIMATED TIME: 10 minutes
AIM: to improve grammar skills, to reinforce the correct use of conditional
clauses: