Conditional sentences

and wishes
C1
1st conditional
 To talk about possible present or future situations and their
result.
 Structure:
[CLAUSE 1] + [CLAUSE 2]
If / unless + Any present tense + Any future tense
modal
imperative mood

 If we pass the exam, our parents will let us go on vacation.

 I will have finished my work tomorrow, unless my children take up all my time.
 NOTICE that unless (if + not) adds a negative meaning, so the verb used in the same
clause is in the affirmative form.
 2nd conditional
 To talk about hypothetical or improbable situations in the present or future.
 Structure:

CLAUSE 1 CLAUSE 2

Would + infinitive
If + past tense (simple
or continuous)
Could + infinitive

Might + infinitive

 If I were/was braver, I could watch more terror films.

 He might try to learn physics if only he weren’t so bad at maths.
The Big Bang Theory and the second
conditional
 3rd conditional
 To talk about a hypothetical situation in the past.
 Structure:

CLAUSE 1 CLAUSE 2
If + past perfect (simple or Would have + past participle
continuous)
Could have + past participle

Might have + past participle

 They could have stayed together, if they had been sincere to each other.
 If I had been saving money, now I wouldn’t have borrowed it from my parents.
Conditionals with inversion

 To make the second and third conditionals more formal, we can use
inversion putting the auxiliaries were and had at the beginning of the
sentence.

 If you were to join the committee, we’d be very pleased.

 Were you to join the committee, we would be very pleased.

 Note that the clause making the inversion is the if-clause, and if
disappears to make room for the auxiliary.
Conditionals with inversion

 Let’s look at another example, this time with the third conditional.

 If you had arrived on time, you would have understood the lecture.
 Had you arrived on time, you would have understood the lecture.

 Once more, the clause making the inversion is the if-clause, and if
disappears to make room for the auxiliary.
 When we talk about mixed
conditionals, we are referring
Mixed conditionals to conditional sentences that
combine two different types
3&2 of conditional patterns.

 The most common combination is when we have a type 3 conditional in the

if-clause (if + past perfect) followed by a type 2 conditional (would +
infinitive) in the main clause.
 With this combination we are contrasting an imagined or real event in the
past with the present result of that:
• If he'd taken the medication as prescribed, he wouldn't still be lying
sick in bed.
• If she'd taken reasonable precautions, she wouldn't be pregnant now.
• If he hadn't run after the car thief and suffered a heart attack, he'd
probably be alive today.
Mixed conditionals:
2&3
 The other possibility is when we have a type 2 conditional in the if-
clause (if + past simple) followed by a type 3 conditional (would've +
past participle) in the main clause.

 With this combination, we are describing ongoing circumstances in

relation to a previous past event. Consider these examples:

• If you weren't such a poor dancer, you would've got a job in the
chorus line in that musical.

• If you weren't so blind to his faults, you would've realised that

he was out to swindle you.
Replacing if There are different options to if
that can be used in its place. Try
some of these.

o Unless
o Even if
o As/So long as
o Supposing
o Whether … or
o Providing
o Provided that
o Whoever; wherever; whenever
o No matter who / when / where
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
2. Suppose you would win the lottery, what would
you do?
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
2. Suppose you would win the lottery, what would
you do?
Suppose you won the lottery, what would you do?
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• I’ve bought some food in case Marianne and John
came round for dinner.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• I’ve bought some food in case Marianne and John
came round for dinner.
I’ve bought some food in case Marianne and John
came round for dinner.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I had known you were coming to London, I
would pick you up at the airport.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I had known you were coming to London, I
would pick you up at the airport.
If I had known you were coming to London, I would
picked you up at the airport.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I told you I love you, what would you have said?
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I told you I love you, what would you have said?
If I told you I love you, what would you say?
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Unless Brian will instruct us otherwise, we will
close the shop at 7.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.

• Unless Brian will instruct us otherwise, we will

close the shop at 7.
Unless Brian instructs us otherwise, we will close
the shop at 7.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.

• Should he have rung, tell him I’ll meet him in the

library.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.

• Should he have rung, tell him I’ll meet him in the

library.
Should he ring, tell him I’ll meet him in the library.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.

• Had I known you’d been shopping, I would not go

myself.
Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.

• Had I known you’d been shopping, I would not go

myself.
Had I known you’d been shopping, I wouldn’t have
gone myself.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
 Example:

I don’t have secretary, so I did all the typing myself.

If I had a secretary, I wouldn’t have done all the
typing myself.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He didn’t follow my advice; that’s why the work
isn’t finished yet.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He didn’t follow my advice; that’s why the work
isn’t finished yet.
o If he’d followed my advice, the work would have
been finished by now.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He can’t have been arguing with his boss all
morning; he looks far too relaxed!
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He can’t have been arguing with his boss all
morning; he looks far too relaxed!
o If he’d been arguing with his boss, he wouldn’t
look so relaxed.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o She doesn’t have the money, otherwise she would
have given me the loan.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o She doesn’t have the money, otherwise she would
have given me the loan.
o If she had the money, she would have given me
the loan.
Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o I realise I wasn’t very polite to the boss, but I’m
planning to leave this job anyway.
o If I wasn’t planning to leave this job, I wouldn’t
have been rude to the boss.
Wishes

 To express a wish we can use wish and if only.

 If only has the same meaning as wish, only it is more emphatic/dramatic.
 With the subject pronoun I both forms were / was can be used in the if-
clause.
Wishing different present situations
• To say that we would like something to be different about a present
situation, we use the past simple or the past continuous.

I wish I was/were 10 years old (but I’m not).

If only I were travelling with you and not alone! It would be much
more fun.
Wishing different past situations
• To express regret about something which happened or didn’t happen in
the past, we use the past perfect.

I wish I had saved more money during my twenties (but I didn’t).

If only I hadn’t been so harsh to her! We could still be friends. (but I
was)
 Wishing for change
Human, if
• To express:
only you – a polite imperative,
would feed
me, I could – and a desire for a situation or person’s behaviour to change
go and take we use the structure subject + would + bare infinitive.
a nap.

I wish you would stop spreading rumours.

If only it would be sunny on my birthday, we could go swimming!
Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example

• You want to buy a new car, but you haven’t got any
money.
• I wish I had enough money (to buy a new car).
Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example

• You didn’t follow your friend’s sensible advice.

• I wish I’d followed my friend’s advice.
Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example

• You lost your lecture notes.

• I wish I hadn’t lost my lecture notes.
Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example

• You want to ask a friend to help you, but he’s out of the
country.
• I wish my friend wasn’t out of the country.