There are three types of conditional sentences with IF ("If") in English.

In all, the conditional sentence

(the one with "if") is a secondary sentence that depends on a main one.

The main clause can be at the beginning, or it can follow the secondary one (conditional with "if").

Conditional 1

The conditional of type 1 expresses a real and possible condition.

In this type, in the secondary sentence the predicate is present, and in the main one we have will +
short infinitive.

Examples:- I will go to the sea if the weather is good.

- If I leave now, I will arrive home at 8 o'clock.

- I will stay at home if it rains.

Instead of "will" we can have other modal verbs, such as can, may, etc.

- If you want, you can borrow my book.

- If it is cloudy, it is possible to rain.

IF can be replaced by provided (that), providing, supposing, suppose, in case.

- What will we do if he is late?

- What shall we do, assuming he is late?

Should + infinitive can be used instead of Present Simple, when the secondary (conditional) action is
possible, but improbable. This type of secondary is often combined with the imperative.

In this case, "should" is translated as: in case that, if it were to happen that.

- If she rings up, tell her I'm out. - If he calls, tell him I'm not at home.
- If she should ring up, tell her I'm out. - If he calls, tell him I'm not at home.

Conditional 2

The type 2 conditional expresses an unlikely condition and refers to a hypothetical situation.

In the secondary sentence the predicate is in the simple past tense, and in the main one we have the
construction would + infinitive.

Examples: - I would go to the sea if the weather was good.

- If he came home, his mother would be very happy.

- I would stay at home if it rained.

Although the simple past form of the verb "to be" (a fi) for the 1st person and the 3rd person singular
is "was", in the case of the conditional, the form "were" is used for all persons

- If I were in your place, I would be calmer.

- He would buy this house if he were rich.

Instead of "would", we can have other modal verbs, such as "might" or "could".

- If you worked and earned more, you could buy that car.

- He could have problems if he wasn't careful.

Conditional 3

The conditional of type 3 expresses an action in the past (which did not happen) that could have been
possible, if a certain condition had been fulfilled.

In the secondary sentence the predicate is in the past perfect tense, and in the main one we have the
construction would + have + the participle (the third form of the verb).

Examples:. - I would have gone to the sea if the weather had been good.

- If he had known the truth, he would have acted differently.

- I would have stayed at home if it had rained.

Instead of "would", we can have other modal verbs, such as "might" or "could", thus we have the
constructions: might + have + participle or could + have + participle.

- If he had gone to the garden, maybe he would have met Mary.

- If he had graduated high school, he could have gone to college.

Other peculiarities of IF conditionals

• In addition to the three types of conditional in English, we can also find conditional 0 (present +
present) and mixed conditionals (a combination of conditionals of type 2 and 3).

- If the temperature drops below 0 degrees, the water freezes. (certain thing)

- If he had followed my advice, he would have a happy marriage today.

- If he wasn't so friendly, she wouldn't have befriended him.

"if not" can be replaced with "unless".

- I won't go shopping if you don't come with me.

- I wouldn't have come if you hadn't invited me.

The conditional circumstantial sentence can be replaced by a conditional circumstantial complement,

which can be introduced by "but for".
- If she hadn't helped him, he would have been in another country.

Usually, in the main sentence that is the regent of a conditional, we find the modal verb "will" in
various tenses (will / would / would have), it can be replaced by other modal verbs. These modal
verbs bring different nuances compared to "will".

"Will" shows the highest degree of possibility among modal verbs.

- If her brother is good, she will be very happy.

"May / might" shows all possibility, but to a lower degree than will.

- If it were cloudy, it might rain.

"Can / could" shows ability.

- If he had been there, he could have helped them.

In addition to expressing a condition, the conditional can also refer to a promise or a warning,
especially in the case of type 1 conditional.

- If you behave nicely, I will buy you a toy.

- If you don't work hard, you will be fired.