Conditionals

A quick revision to the use and structure

Conditionals as a grammatical structure
What are conditionals? Conditionals are sentences (made by two clauses) that
talk about a condition (conditional clause), and something that happens in that
condition is fulfilled or not (main clause).

A clause is a structure which has a subject and a predicate, just as a sentence,

but the sentence can be made by more than one clause. These clauses can
take initial or final position as we will see in the examples.

There are different types of conditionals (0, 1, 2, 3) which serve for different
purposes and contexts. In order to understand specifically conditional 2, we
need to see how it differs from the rest of them.
 Conditional 0
Structure: If + subject + present simple, subject + present simple

The Zero (0) conditional describes a situation that is always true. It is used mainly in
scientific or natural processes where the consequence of the condition works as
some kind of LAW. In Conditional Zero, the word “if” can be replaced by when or
whenever, having the same meaning:

If (when/whenever) I consume caffeine after 6 pm, I have trouble sleeping at night

I always wake up very early when (if, whenever) I leave the curtains open
Conditional 1
Structure: If + subject + present simple, subject + future will

The First (1) conditional is used to speculate about a situation that can really
happen at present or in the future. The difference with the previous
conditional (zero) is that this one (1) talks about a real possibility, not
something that ALWAYS happens

If we catch the 10.30 train, we will arrive on time

What will you do if you don’t have your ticket?

Conditional 2 VS Conditional 1
Structure: If + subject + past simple, subject + would (or could) + verb infinitive

In the second (2) conditional sentences, we speculate about situations that will
probably never happen at the present or in the future. The main difference in
use between the first (1) and second (2) conditional is the probability: The first
(1) is realistic, the second (2) is unrealistic

1st conditional: If we are hungry, we will call for a pizza delivery

(It is probable that we ask for a
pizza)

2nd Conditional: If we were hungry, we would call for a pizza delivery

(But we are not hungry, so it’s not probable we ask for
the pizza)
 Conditional 2: In detail

In Conditional 2 sentences, the verb TO BE is specific in the If clause, This means that if we
use the verb to be in the conditional clause, the conjugation of this verb is in past tense and
plural form: WERE, regardless of the subject of the sentence. Let’s see:

He could play basketball If he were younger:

He is not young, so it’s not probable that he plays basketball.

If I were in Mars right now, I would take some really good pictures
Interplanetary trips are not available yet, so it’s not probable that I take pictures
there

The standard would be “If he was...” and “If I was” but “were” is much more usual among
 Conditional 3
Structure: If + subject + had + past participle, subject + would have + verb participle

Conditional 3 sentences are used to speculate about things that happened or not in the
past. It is the only conditional that always refers to the past. We use it when we refer to
an event of the past, and how that could or couldn’t have been different, but knowing
that this possibility in completely UNREAL or IMPOSSIBLE. Let’s see:

If I hadn’t adopted my dog, she would have died alone in the street.

We would have stopped consuming milk if we had known about its cruelty before

The situations described happened in the past, and it cannot be changed, but we
speculate about a different possibility that can’t be real now.
 And before we finish...
Conditionals are made of two clauses that can switch their position within the sentence

Depending on the type of conditional, they refer to hypothetical situations that vary in the
degree of probability, and time (present, past, or future).

The structure of conditionals is quite rigid: Even though the clauses can move, the order of
the constituent within the clauses must be respected to generate grammatical sentences.

So, you need to practise and pay attention to the little details (grammatical constituents
and probability) to know which of the four different conditionals needs to be used in a
specific situation.
Exercices

Practice Conditionals 1, 2, and 3 with fixed sentences

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/first-second-third-conditionals-exe
rcise.html

Practice writing your own conditionals 0, 1, 2, and 3 with free sentences (we
can check this during our online sessions)
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/support-files/all_conditionals_for
m_mixed_exercise.pdf