Conditional sentences tell us a condition (if..) and its consequence. ‘The tenses we use depend on: © whether the condition and its consequence are real or imaginary. © whether they are generally true, or linked to a particular event. Often the condition comes before the consequence, but sometimes the consequence comes first. When the condition comes first, itis followed by a comma. When the consequence comes first, we don’t use a comma. We can divide conditionals into four groups. 4 Zero conditional f+ present tense, + present tense Af utr in love, nothing ese matters. present tense (no comma) + if+ present tense Nothing ee matters if you're in low. We use this to state general truths: If you're in love, nothing else matters. All the world seems wonderful if you're in love, [Fwe heat ice, ic melts. = Ice meits if we heat it 2 First conditional Ife present tense, future rense Ifyou teave me 1M de ofa broker heart facure tense (no comma) +if + present tense Il dio of « broken hear if you loave me. imperative condition + ond-+ future tense Leave me and I'll die of broken heart. We use this for a condition which we believe is possible: Ifyou leave me, I'l die of a broken heart. (not If-you'l-Teave) PIL love you forever éf you buy me a diamond ring. (noe Hfyeeet-bes) Sometimes we use the imperative to express this kind of condition (the imperative always comes first): Leave me and I'l die of a broken heart. Buy me a diamond ring and I'l Tove you for ever. 3 Second conditional If pastrense,+ would + verb Ifyou lee we, Faeould die of «broken hear would + ver (no comms) +if+ past tense Twould die ofa broken heart iF ya I We use this for an imaginary condition, which we believe to be impossible or very improbable. We use the past tense although the speaker is thinking about the present or future: Ifyou lefe me, I'd (would) die of a broken heart. (but I believe you won't leave me, so my heart is safe)Ifyou were in love, nothing else would matter. (but I believe you're not in Tove, so other things are important to you) All the world would seem wonderful if you were in love. (but the speaker believes you're not in love, so everything doesn’t seem wonderful) Id (would) love you for ever if you bougite me a diamond ring. (but 1 don’t ‘expect you sill buy me one, so I may not love you for ever!) ‘A. With I we often use were instead of was in conditional sentences, ‘especially when we write. It is more formal: If Lovas you, I wouldn't phone him. If Twere you, Twould write him a letter. 4 Third conditional If past perfect wense,+ would have [fyas hed left os, | would hve died of 0 + paot participle bron hears would have + past participle (no comma) J would have died ofw roken heart ifyre + if pase periec: tense Fuad Kft me, ‘We use this to talk about past events which cannot be changed, so we know that the condition is impossible and its consequence is imaginary: Ifyoud (had) left me, I'd (would) have died of « broken heart, (but you didn't leave me, so I was all right) If yowd (had) been in love, nothing else would have mattered. (but the speaker knows you were not in love at that time, so other things were important to you) All the world would have seemed wonderful if you'd (had) been ir love. (but the speaker knows you were not in love so everything didn’t seem wonderful) I'd (would) have loved you for ever if you'd (had) bought me a diamond ring. (bac you didn’t buy me one, so I stopped loving you!) 4 Other modal verbs like might and could are sometimes used instead of ‘would in second and third conditional sentences: Tmight love you if you bought me a diamond ring. Teould inave toved you for ever if you'd (hai) bought me « diamond ring 5 Mixed conditionals ‘We sometimes meet sentences which contain a mixture of second and third conditionals because of their particular context: If my boyfriend gave me diamonds like that, I'd have married hin by now. (© my boyftiend does not give me diamonds like that so I haven’: married him) Ifthe weather had been fine last week, there would be roses in my garden. the weather was bad last week so there are no roses in my garclen now) Lesiey wouldn’s Rave missed rhe bus if she was better urgenised (© Lesley missed the bus because she is a badly organised person)[EW Match the beginnings and endings of these sentences. 1 IF Sally opens that door, .- 2 if she wasn't such a jealous type. 2, IF Mike had listened to his father, .. b Td probably have lots of boyfriends, 3. Lwould quite like Juno um ¢ they usually wait until their parents go out 4. IF Dave didn’t work so much, d and you'll never forget his face. 5 We would have arrived early € he wouldn't have got into rouble. 6 IFLwas as lovely as Nancy, .. £ [till wouldn't love yout 7 Af teenagers want to have a party, g shell get a nasty surprise. 8 The house wouldn't have been such 2 mess... ifthe roads had been less busy. 9. Take one look at Alan . ihe wouldn't get so tired, 10 If you were as handsome as a film star,...__j_ ifthe guests hadn't been careless. [By Puc the verbs in brackets into the correct form. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J won't help you with your homework if you .....42Mt. ti... (no tidy) your bedroom. You'll need a Vise if YOU sna (wan) to travel to Chine. Ifthe (cae) about other people's feclings, he wouldn’t behave that way. She .. __ (not be) successful if she doesn’: leam to control her temper. If Pd known you were such a gossip, I .. (no tell) you my secret ‘They would work harder if they -- (nat be) s0 tired. The boss, -ousssnumm (be) Furious if he'd found out what you wore up to. If the temperature ... nme (fall) below freezing, water turns to ice. If they ~ (not expect) delays, they wouldn't have set off 50 eatly. Open the envelope and We ... s-nan (discover) what John has been doingCommunes EB) Complete the sentences for each picture using the third conditional, to Show how missing her bus one day resulted in a new job for Zoe. 1 Ifshe hadn't missed her bus, she wouldn't have. ore, 2 If there had been a fre table, she .. wth woulda’ have had wo wal for her coffee, » She wouldn't have read the back of the man’s paper. 5 she hadn't noticed the advertisement, .... apes EX) Complete these sentences, using your own ideas, 1 IFT was incredibly good-looking !v. fiends. wold. be jealous oF mg... 2 Lwouldn't have to study English if. 3. IT pass First Certificate - 4 Twon’t poss my exam if 5 If my teacher didn't 6 hadn't 7 If English grammar 8 You have to ... = 9 If you listen to English pop songs. 10 If T complete this sentence quickly ..