notas

- One of my favorite grammar structures in english (what a weird name uhm? but in just a
minute you’re gonna understand why it is called like that)
- How many of us spend a great part of our days daydreaming?
- We love to imagine how life would be if this was different…or if that was different
- if you were married to a famous football player, or maybe to a famous artist, or what if you
found a briefcase with 5 million dollars…, or if you could fly to work instead of driving your
car, or if you had the superpower of being invisible, what if you never had to look at your boss
again, or how life would be if you were an elephant. what if you could travel in time and live in
another era? do you ever thing about these stuff?
- We love to think about unreal situations! Unreal actions. Unreal tense.
- We imagine unreal situations all the time (and we love it)
- And that’s why i love the second conditional. Cause it helps us to structure all these dreams,
ideas and questions (plus, is super fun. You can have a great time with another person using it)
- It’s formed by 2 clauses, if clause and main clause (use 2 different colors)
- The second conditional formula.
- We can switch the position and the result won’t change.
- We can use one negative clause or both negative clauses.
 notas
- One of my favorite grammar structures in english (what a weird name uhm? but in
just a minute you’re gonna understand why it is called like that)
- if you were married to a famous football player, or if you were a famous artist, or what
if you found a briefcase with 5 million dollars…, or if you could fly to work instead of
driving your car, or if you had the superpower of being invisible, how life would be if
you were an elephant, or what if you could travel to the past?
- do you ever thing about these stuff?
- We love to think about unreal situations! Unreal actions. Unreal tense.
- And that’s why i love the second conditional. Cause it helps us to structure all these
dreams, ideas and questions (plus, is super fun. You can have a great time with another
person using it)
- It’s formed by 2 clauses, if clause and main clause (use 2 different colors)
- The second conditional formula.
- We can switch the position and the result won’t change.
- We can use one negative clause or both negative clauses.
So that you know what will happen in this lesson, let
me give you a bit of an overview…

second conditional

meaning

what it looks like

extra tips

practice
 second conditional
meaning
when and why you should use the second conditional.

what it looks like

what words, what tenses, what punctuation are important to help
you use the second conditional accurately.

extra tips
to help you use the second conditional correctly.

practice
have lots of fun with examples
 Daydreaming

Do you imagine how life would be if this or that were a

little different?
what if…
We love to think about unreal situations!

It helps us to structure all these dreams, ideas and

questions.

Use the 2nd conditional

(4 situations)
1. to imagine life is different
2. to ask hypothetical questions
3. to give advice
4. to give reasons why
 1. to imagine life is
different

things in the future that are unlikely.

things that are impossible in the present.

IF this happened, that would happen.
 IF this happened, that would happen.

if i found 8 million dollars, i would buy a house

_______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
unlikely condition unlikely outcome

this is an unlikely event in the future, because it’s unlikely I’m

gonna find 8 million dollars. Possibly, but unlikely.
 IF this happened, that would happen.

If I had wings, I would fly to the mall

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
impossible condition impossible outcome

Since people don’t have wings, this condition is impossible.

So the outcome of flying to the mall wouldn’t happen.
 what it looks like

if + past simple, would + infinitive

Conditional sentences all have an if clause and a main clause

(sometimes also called the result clause) because it can only
happen if the clause occurs. it’s a condition.
 change the order of
the clauses

it doesn’t change the meaning but there is an important

punctuation change that you need to make.
 if + past simple, would + infinitive

would + infinitive if + past simple

If I were a dog, I would sleep all day long

I would sleep all day long if I were a dog
 2. hypothetical questions

If you changed your name, what name would you

choose?

If you had a time machine, where would you go?

If you were in Paris for one day, what would you do?

* to imagine or to dream that the present situation is different than it really is.
 2. hypothetical questions

If you had a big garden, what kind of dog would you

get?

If you knew how to play guitar, what song would you

play?

If you were an animal, what would you be?

 2. hypothetical questions
If you could marry any Hollywood actor, who would it
be?

If you could get anything to drink right now, what

would you get?

If you could visit one city in Italy, where would you

go?

You can use “could" in the "if clause” to ask a similar question.

The verb that follows “could” is in the infinitive form not in the past simple.

It’s a modal verb (standard english grammar rule)

After modal verbs we always have the infinitive.

 3. give advice
When someone asks you for advice we usually try to imagine
what you would do in their situation and share that with them.

If i were you, I'd talk to my boss before i quit my

job.

If i were her, I'd break up with him!

 4. give reasons why

Instead of just sayin no, you might want to explain the situation a
little more…

If I had the money, I´d lend it to you.

If I wasn’t so busy, I´d invite you over for dinner.

 Extra tips
1. “If” is a conjunction. Join two sentences/clauses
together.

2. You can change the order of the clauses.

3. Subject + would are usually contracted… i´d, you´d,

she´d, he´d, they´d, we´d.

4. It breaks grammar rules! Be verb

I was/were…

He was/were…

She was/were…
 You can definitely make one or both clauses
negative in a second conditional sentence.

If i didn’t want to go, I´d tell you.

If i didn’t have this belly, I´d be healthier.
If I didn’t pass the exam, I wouldn’t tell my parents.