CONDITIONAL

SENTENCES
Zero
First
Second
Third
Use of conditional sentences
 Conditional sentences allow us to talk about
-PROBABLE
-IMPROBABLE/ UNREAL
-IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS and their
CONSEQUENCES, which cannot be changed.
 So, conditional sentences typically contain
TWO CLAUSES:
- a condition clause (if-clause)
- a result clause (main clause)
ZERO CONDITIONAL:

 To describe A STRAIGHTFORWARD
CAUSE AND EFFECT.
If you press that button, the engine starts.
 To write a SCIENTIFIC TRUTH
If you mix oil and water, the oil floats.

* “if” = “whenever”
FIRST CONDITIONAL:
 When we believe that something is LIKELY
(PROBABLE) TO HAPPEN:
If I have the money, I will buy a new car.
You will pass your exams if you study hard.

 For PROMISES or THREATS/WARNINGS:

If I go to America, I’ll send you a postcard
If you don’t do your homework, you won’t go out.
 Other options in the main clause

1) MODAL VERBS
If you keep on behaving like that, you may/might have
problems.
If you finish your work in time, you can/may go home.
If you want to lose weight, you must/should eat less bread.
If you see Tom, could you ask him to ring me?

2) IMPERATIVE
If you are hungry, make yourself a sandwich.
Other options in the “If” clause.
 a present continuous or a present perfect:
If you are looking for Peter, you will find him
upstairs.
If you have finished dinner, I’ll ask the waiter for
the bill.
SECOND CONDITIONAL:

 when we think that a situation is NOT VERY

LIKELY (problable) TO HAPPEN
If the students worked harder, they would have better
results.
 for UNREAL or IMAGINARY SITUATIONS:
If I were the President of the USA, I would help poor
people all over the world.
 for ADVICE:
If I were you, I would think about it.
 for POLITE REQUESTS:
Would you mind if I borrowed these CDs?
EXAMPLE OF POSSIBLE VARIATIONS
 If you tried again, you might succeed.
 If I knew her number, I could ring her up.
 If I were on holiday, I might be touring Italy.
THIRD CONDITIONAL
 To describe IMPOSSIBLE CONDITIONS, as they
have already happened and, therefore, cannot be
changed.
 If I had won the lottery, I wouldn’t have had
financial problems.
(= but I didn’t win the lottery and so I had financial
problems)
 To express REGRETS:
If I hadn´t dropped out of university, I would have
found a better job.
(= but I dropped out of university!)
Examples of possible variations:
- If I had known you were coming, I could
have met you at the airport.
(I didn’t know you were coming, so I didn’t meet
you there)
- We might have passed if we had studied
harder.
(We didn’t study hard, so we didn’t pass)
ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’...

 UNLESS (= if not)
You wouldn’t lose weight, unless you stopped eating
chocolate.
Unless you hurry, you’ll miss the train.

 AS (so) LONG AS / PROVIDED (THAT) / ON

CONDITION THAT....
I’ll lend you my books as long as / provided that / on
condition that you promise to bring them back.
I woud lend you my books as long as / provided that/ on
condition that you promised to bring them back.
ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’...
 EVEN IF...
Even if I were a millionaire, I wouldn’t give him
any money.
 OTHERWISE (= if it doesn’t happen/ if it
didn’t happen/ it it hadn’t happened)
Stop eating chocolate, Otherwise you won’t
lose weight.
Her father pays her fees, Otherwise she
wouldn’t be here.
He studied very hard, Otherwise he wouldn’t
have had such good marks.
ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’...

BUT FOR (if it weren’t for / if it hadn’t been for)

We would go out more often but for/if it weren’t
for the children.
I wouldn’t have come to the party but for/if it
hadn’t been for her insistence.
ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’...
SUPPOSE/ SUPPOSING (THAT)
- Suppose (that) / supposing (that), + ………?
Suppose he asks you for a date, will you
accept?
Suppose you failed your exam, would you tell
your parents?
Suppose they had offered you the job, would
you have accepted?
I wish / If only
We use I wish/ If only + past simple to talk
about a desire for the present.
I’m not very tall. I wish/If only I were taller.

I haven’t got a house at the beach. I wish/ If

only I had a house at the beach.

I wish/ If only it weren’t raining.

I wish / If only
We use I wish/If only + past perfect to talk
about a regret about something in the past.

I didn’t study very hard. I wish/ If only I had

studied harder.
I ate a lot; I’m so full. I wish/ If only I hadn’t
eaten so much.
I wish / If only
 We use I wish/If only + would-inf to
complain about something annoying.
My parents never let me stay at my friends’
houses. I wish/ If only my parents would let
me stay at my friends’ houses.
He is always talking while the teacher is
explaining. I wish/ If only he would stop
talking.
 MIXED CONDITIONALS
It combines the THIRD CONDITIONAL (in the
condition clause) with the SECOND
CONDITIONAL (in the result clause):
If I hadn’t eaten that seafood, I wouldn’t feel so
awful now.
If the weather had been fine last week, there
would be roses in the garden now.

* It happens when the time reference in the if-clause is different to

the time reference in the main clause.
 MIXED CONDITIONALS
 Or the SECOND CONDITIONAL (in the if-
clause) with the THIRD CONDITIONAL (in
the main clause)
If he weren’t so shy, he would have asked her
to marry him.
If Emma weren’t so lazy, she would have
studied harder.
* It happens when the time reference in the if-clause is different to
the time reference in the main clause.