Conditional Sentences

Conditional Sentences are also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses. They are used to express that the
action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled.
There are three types of Conditional Sentences.

Conditional Sentence Type 1

It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

If I go to London this weekend, I will go shopping in the oxford street.

If he has time he will help you.

We use if + Simple Present, Simple Present when we are thinking about facts which are generally true: If you lie in
the sun too long, you get sun burnt. (Always true)

If I drink coffee late at night, I can’t sleep.

We can reverse the order: will-Future if + Simple Present

I get a headache if somebody starts smoking. (Comma is not necessary)

Sometimes, we use: if + present verb, imperative:

If you see Anna, please give her my love.

If you go abroad, don’t forget your passport.
We can use unless to mean except if:
We can often use unless + a positive verb instead of if + negative verb.
You won’t pass the exam if you don’t study hard. (if + negative verb)
You won’t pass the exam unless you study hard. (unless + a positive verb)
Conditional Sentence Type 2
It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

If I/he/she/it were ... is grammatically correct in second conditional sentence.

If she were rich, she would stop working.

But in informal English, people often use was
If she was rich, she would stop working.
We use If I were you.... to give advice.
E.g. If I were you, I wouldn’t buy that pullover.
If I were you, I would study harder.
 We can use I wish to say that we want something to be different from how it is now. Note that the verb after
wish is past (e.g. could, was, had)
Example: I wish (that) Charlie Chaplin was still alive.
Sara wishes she had enough money for a new dress.
I wish I was very rich.
 After if and wish, we sometimes use I/He/She/It with were:
If Charlie Chaplin were (or was) alive today, …
If he were (or was) alive today, …
I wish Charlie Chaplin were (or was) still alive.

Notice also the expression if I were you, when give someone advice:
If I were you, I would go to the police.
(Not: If I was you, …)
Eg. You don’t have a driving license, so you can’t have the job.
I wish I had a driving license.
You can’t speak germen so you can’t have the job.
I wish I………………………………..

Conditional Sentence Type 3

It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

If your fiancé had seen you with Marry, how would you have explained it?
Sometimes we can talk about something which happened in the past but the result is now.
He invented a new computer program in 1995. Now he is rich.
Then we use a mixture of the third conditional and second conditional in an if clause sentence.
If he hadn’t invented a new computer program, he wouldn’t be rich
If she had married the Prince, she would be the Queen now.
If they had lost the war, they wouldn’t live in an independent country.

 We can use wish + had done to talk about the past when we are SORRY that something didn’t happen, and we
imagine that it did:
Example: He wishes he had studied harder at school.

(Meaning:- He didn’t study hard, and now he is sorry about it.)

I wish I had gone to bed earlier last night. I woke up very late this morning

 We can use a negative form (wish … hadn’t done) to say that we are sorry that something did happen:
Many people wish that John F. Kennedy hadn’t gone to Dallas.

(Meaning:- Many people are sorry that John F. Kennedy went to Dallas)

Eg. Usman wasted his time at school; now he’s sorry.

Usman wishes he hadn’t wasted his time at school.

I didn’t send Bethlehem a birth day card; now I am sorry.
I wishes ……………………………………………….......

Exercise
1. If I see your friend tomorrow I (give) her your message.
w ill give If I see your frien
2. I (give up) my job if I win a million dollar,
w ill give up If I w in a million do
3. If would (be) longer if I hadn't cut my hair,
have been If I hadn't cut my h
4. If the student had spoken politely, the teacher (would/not
/be) angry.
w ouldn't have be If the student had
5. I would (warn) him if I had seen him.

have w arned If I had seen him,I

6. If you invited me, I would (accept) with pleasure.
accept If you invited me,I
7. If you feel bad tonight, I(stay) with you.
w ill stay If you feel bad ton
8. They might (be) more confident if you had taken care of
your children,
have been If you had taken
9. If he had worked hard, he could (earn) enough money.
have earned If he had w orked
10. If the water is warm, I (take) a bath.

11. They will fly to Canberra if they______ more money.

A) have b) have had c) had had d) had

shone If the sun *, w e w

12. If the sun ______, we would have gone swimming.
A) had shone B) shines C) shone D) will shine