Advanced conditional forms

 We often use supposing or imagine instead of if in spoken situations. This suggests an act of imagination.
Supposing you could spend a day with someone famous. Who would it be?
 Unless tends to be used more in real conditionals and means if not. We don’t use unless in questions.
Unless we change the way we think about work, we’ll never be able to face the challenges of the 21st century.
 Provided (that) has a similar sense of reservation as unless but means only if.
Provided the stadium is finished, the games will go ahead as planned.
 In case is used to suggest readiness for a possible future development.
We’ll take sandwiches in case we can’t finds somewhere to eat.
 Even if is used to emphasize that although something may happen or may be true, another situation remains the same.
Even if we lose this game, we still have a chance of winning the league.
- We sometimes use will, would and going to in the if clause in certain situations..
If you would fill in this form, someone will be with you in a moment. (polite request)
If you will keep talking about yourself, I’m not surprised no-one wants to listen. (annoying behavior)
If they’re going to ignore my advice, I don’t want to help them. (intention)
If you won’t tell them your name, they won’t let you in. (refusal)
I won’t go out if you’ll be happier. (result)
If you would hold this for a moment, I’ll show you how it works. (cooperation)
Mixed conditionals
FORM USE
Mixed conditionals are a combination of Mixed conditionals are used to speculate on the present results of hypothetical past situation or even and can also be used to show regret
second and third conditionals. or criticism.
If + past simple/continuous, would/wouldn’t If I hadn’t lived in Paris, I wouldn’t be able to speak good French. / If you’d started your work earlier, you wouldn’t still be doing it!
have + past participle. They can also be used to hypothesize on the past consequences of an imaginary present situation.
If + past perfect, would/wouldn’t + infinitive I would have had more fun at the camp if I wasn’t so shy. If I didn’t know you, I’d have thought you were being serious.
Note that we can also use inverted We can also use the past simple to talk about real situations and their consequences in the past.
conditional forms here for more formality in He always tried to cheer me up if I was a bit down.
the if clause.
Inverted conditionals
In more formal contexts, we sometimes leave out if and invert the subject and auxiliary.
Had she known it was so wet there, she would have taken and umbrella. = If she had known it was so wet there…
Were I to return to Argentina, I would definitely learn the tango. = If I were to return to Argentina…
Were I wealthier, I would have stayed in a nicer hotel. = If I were wealthier…
Past regrets
As well as using the third and mixed conditionals to express regret about the past, we use the following structures, which can also imply criticism.
 should have + past participle
This usually expresses mild regret or criticism regarding something in the past.
We should have left earlier. There’s a lot of traffic on the roads now. / You should have spoken to her before you borrowed her phone.
 would rather/sooner
We can use rather and sooner interchangeably to show mild regret or criticism relating to a past situation.
I’d rather/sooner you hadn’t told me the answer. I wanted to work it out myself.
We can use would rather/sooner + past simple/perfect or would rather/sooner + have + past participle if the subject is the same in both parts of the sentence.
I’d rather/sooner not have overslept. It meant I was late for school.
 wish + past perfect
We use wish + past perfect when we want to express a stronger regret about a past situation.
She wishes she hadn’t bought that guitar. She’s never played it. / I wish you hadn’t eaten the last piece of cake. I was looking forward to it.
 if only + past perfect
We use if only in the same way as wish for a regret about something in the past, although if only can sound like a stronger regret.
If only you’d tried it on before you bought it. It’s too late to change it now. / If only we’d known you’d missed the bus. My dad cold have picked you up.