CONDITIONALS

Ex. : If I see her, I will tell her.

There are several structures in English that we
call conditionals or if conditionals.
The word "condition" means "situation or
circunstance".
If a particular condition is true, then a particular
result happens:
 if  y = 3  then  2y = 6
There are three basic English conditionals plus
the so-called zero conditional.
There are some more conditionals that we do not
use so often.

conditiona if- main-

l type usage clause clause

0 real condition + present present

inevitable result simple simple

1 possible present will + base

condition + simple verb
probable result

2 hypothetical past would +

condition + simple base verb
possible result

3 expired past past would

condition + perfect have + past
possible past participle
 result

Structure of Conditional Sentences

The structure of most conditionals is very simple.

There are two basic possibilities.
Of course, we add many words and can use
various tenses, but the basic structure is usually
like this:

i
f condition result

if y = 10 2y = 20

or like this:

i
result f condition

2y = 20 if y = 10

This structure can produce, for example, the

following sentences:
  If I see her, I will tell her.
 I will tell her if I see her.
Notice the comma in the first sentence. (A
comma is always correct in this case, but not
always essential if the sentence is short.) In the
second sentence we do not normally use a
comma.
Zero Conditional

for certainty
If you heat ice, it melts.
We use the so-called zero conditional when the
result of the condition is always true, like a
scientific fact.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the
saucepan. What happens? The ice melts (it
becomes water). You would be surprised if it did
not.
 i
f condition result

  Present Simple Present Simple

If you heat ice, it melts.

First Conditional
for real possibility

If I win the lottery, I will buy a car.

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular

condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There
is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is
morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But
there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?

i
f condition result

  Present Simple will + base verb

If it rains, I will stay at home.

Second Conditional
for unreal possibility

If I won the lottery, I would buy a car.

The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still thinking

about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future,
and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this
condition will happen. For example, you do not have a lottery ticket. Is it
possible to win? No! No lottery ticket, no win! But maybe you will buy a
lottery ticket in the future. So you can think about winning in the future,
like a dream. It's not very real, but it's still possible.
 i
f condition result

would + base
  Past Simple verb

If I won the I would buy a car.

lottery,

Third Conditional
for no possibility

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With
the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in
the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this
condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no
possibility of the dream coming true.

Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(

i
f Condition result

would have + past

  Past Perfect participle

If I had won the I would have bought a car.

 i
f Condition result

would have + past

  Past Perfect participle

lottery,

Summary of Conditionals
Here is a table to help you to visualize the basic conditionals.

Do not take the 50% and 10% too literally. They are just to help you.

probability,
conditional example time

100 zero If you heat ice, it melts. any

%

50% 1st If I win the lottery, I will buy a car. future

10% 2nd If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. future

0% 3rd If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a past

car.
People sometimes call conditionals "if structures" or "if sentences"
because there is usually (but not always) the word if in a conditional
sentence.

PRACTICE

Zero Conditional
for certainty

If you heat ice, it melts.

We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the condition is

always true, like a scientific fact.

Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What happens?
The ice melts (it becomes water). You would be surprised if it did not.

i
f condition result

  Present Simple Present Simple

If you heat ice, it melts.

Notice that we are thinking about a result that is always true for this
condition. The result of the condition is an absolute certainty. We are not
thinking about the future or the past, or even the present. We are thinking
about a simple fact. We use the Present Simple tense to talk about the
condition. We also use the Present Simple tense to talk about the result.
The important thing about the zero conditional is that the condition
always has the same result.

Look at these example sentences:

i
f condition result

  Present Simple Present Simple

If I miss the 8 o'clock bus, I am late for work.

If I am late for work, my boss gets angry.

If people don't eat, they get hungry.

If you heat ice, does it melt?

i
result f condition

Present Simple   Present Simple

I am late for work if I miss the 8 o'clock bus.

 i
result f condition

Present Simple   Present Simple

My boss gets angry if I am late for work.

People get hungry if they don't eat.

Does ice melt if you heat it?

We often use when instead of if, for example: When I get up late, I miss

my bus.

Quiz
1. The zero conditional is used when the result of the condition is

 no longer true

 still possibile
 always true

2. "If you _______ water for a long time, it boils." Which is correct?

 heat
 heated
 had heated

3. "We get tired when we _______ get enough sleep." Which is correct?
  won't
 don't
 haven't

First Conditional
for real possibility

If I win the lottery, I will buy a car.

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular

condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There
is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is
morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But
there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?

i
f condition result

  Present Simple will + base verb

If it rains, I will stay at home.

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet.
But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the Present
Simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use will +
base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing
about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the
condition will happen.
Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic
structures: [if condition result] and [result if condition]?):

i
f condition result

  Present Simple will + base verb

If I see Mary, I will tell her.

If Tara is free tomorrow, he will invite her.

If they do not pass their exam, their teacher will be sad.

If it rains tomorrow, will you stay at home?

If it rains tomorrow, what will you do?

i
result f condition

will + base verb   Present Simple

I will tell Mary if I see her.

 i
result f condition

will + base verb   Present Simple

He will invite Tara if she is free tomorrow.

Their teacher will be if they do not pass their exam.

sad

Will you stay at home if it rains tomorrow?

What will you do if it rains tomorrow?

Sometimes, we use shall, can or may instead of will, for example: If it's

sunny this afternoon, we can play tennis.

Quiz
1. The first conditional is used if there is _______ that the condition will
happen.

 no possibility
 little real possibility
 a real possibility

2. "If we _______ free, we'll go with you." Which is correct?

  were
 are
 had been

3. "We'll win if we _______ well enough." Which is correct?

 play
 playing
 had played

Second Conditional
for unreal possibility

If I won the lottery, I would buy a car.

The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still thinking

about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future,
and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this
condition will happen. For example, you do not have a lottery ticket. Is it
possible to win? No! No lottery ticket, no win! But maybe you will buy a
lottery ticket in the future. So you can think about winning in the future,
like a dream. It's not very real, but it's still possible.

i
f condition result

would + base
  Past Simple verb

If I won the I would buy a car.

 i
f condition result

would + base
  Past Simple verb

lottery,

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. We use the Past

Simpletense to talk about the future condition. We use would + base
verb to talk about the future result. The important thing about the second
conditional is that there is an unreal possibility that the condition will
happen.

Look at these example sentences:

i
f condition result

  Past Simple would + base verb

If I married Mary, I would be happy.

If Ram became rich, she would marry him.

If it snowed next July, would you be surprised?

 i
f condition result

  Past Simple would + base verb

If it snowed next July, what would you do?

i
result f condition

would + base verb   Past Simple

I would be happy if I married Mary.

She would marry Ram if he became rich.

Would you be if it snowed next July?

surprised

What would you do if it snowed next July?

Sometimes, we use should, could or might instead of would, for

example: If I won a million dollars, I could stop working.

Quiz
1. The second conditional is used if there is _______ that the condition
will happen.

 no possibility
 little real possibility
 a real possibility

2. "If we _______ free, we'd go with you." Which is correct?

 were
 are
 had been

3. "If Justin _______ me to marry him, I'd say yes." Which makes this a
correct second conditional sentence?

 asks
 asked
 had asked

Third Conditional
for no possibility

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future.
With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a
condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no
possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a
dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.

Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :
 i
f condition result

would have + past

  Past Perfect participle

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You

did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that
particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use
the Past Perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition.
We use would have + past participle to talk about the impossible
past result. The important thing about the third conditional is
that both the condition and result are impossible now.

Look at these example senteces:

i
f condition result

would have + past

  Past Perfect participle

If I had seen Mary, I would have told her.

i
f condition result

would have + past

  Past Perfect participle

If Tara had been free I would have invited her.

yesterday,

If they had not passed their teacher would have

their exam, been sad.

If it had rained yesterday, would you have stayed at

home?

If it had rained yesterday, what would you have

done?
 i
result f condition

would have + past

participle   Past Perfect

I would have told Mary if I had seen her.

I would have invited Tara if she had been free

yesterday.

Their teacher would have if they had not passed their

been sad exam.

Would you have stayed at if it had rained yesterday?

home

What would you have if it had rained yesterday?

done

Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might

have instead of would have, for example: If you had bought
a lottery ticket, you might have  won.
Quiz
1. The third conditional is used when both the condition and result are

 no longer possibile

 still possibile
 always true

2. "If we _______ free, we would have gone with you." Which is correct?

 were
 are
 had been

3. "If you'd studied harder, you _______ failed." Which creates a third
conditional sentence that makes sense?

 would
 would have
 wouldn't have