Conditional sentences (Part 1)

Hello everybody!

How did you do with the Reported Speech sentences from the last post? Let’s take a look!

‘I’m going to the gym’ John said to Sally

John said to Sally that he was going to the gym

‘Brian went to the concert yesterday!’ Amy explained

Amy explained to Brian that she had been to the concert the previous day

‘I didn’t really understand the film’ Mike admitted

Mike admitted that he hadn’t really understood the film

‘I’ve never been to Disneyland’ Dan told his friends

Dan told his friends that he had never been to Disneyland

 ‘I’ll call you when I arrive’ the boy said to his parents

The boy said to his parents that he would call when he arrived

‘John can play the guitar well’ his friends said

John’s friends said that he could/can play the guitar well

 

Today we are going to talk about conditional sentences! 🙂

What are they?

They are sentences formed by two different clauses: the If clause, which states the condition, and the Main clause, which states the result. There are many types of Conditional sentences in English, but all of them have these two clauses (If and Main clause).

How many types of Conditionals are there?

There are 4 types of Conditional sentences and 2 types of Mixed Conditionals and today we are going to talk about three of them: Zero, First and Second Conditional.

Conditional sentences

Zero Conditional: ‘If you heat water up to 100º Celsius, it boils’

• We use the Zero Conditional to talk about facts or situations which are very often true.
• Structure: IF + PRESENT SIMPLE + PRESENT SIMPLE

First Conditional: ‘If I study hard I will pass the exam’

• We use the first Conditional to talk about a real possibility in the future
• Structure: IF + PRESENT TENSE (Present Simple/Continuous/Perfect) + FUTURE (Will/going to/might,etc)

Second Conditional: ‘If I were rich, I would buy a mansion’

• We use the second conditional to talk about imaginary, hypothetical or unreal situations in the present or future time.
• Structure: IF + PAST SIMPLE/CONTINUOS + COULD/WOULD + BARE INFINITIVE (infinitive without to)
• Notice how in the second conditional we normally use were in the ‘If Clause’ instead of was

 

Shall we get some practice? Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one using the word given. Use between 2 and 5 words. Do not change the word given:

I wish I didn’t like chocolate so much so I wouldn’t have weight problems

IF

________________________________ chocolate so much, I wouldn’t have weight problems.

As long as Sally helps me I might manage to finish my report on time.

ABLE

If Sally helps me _____________________________________ finish my report on time.

My sister and I have so many arguments because we have very strong personalities.

WOULD

If my sister and I didn’t have such strong personalities, we ________________________ arguments.

I suggest you see a doctor about that cough

WERE

If _________________________________ see a doctor about that cough

I promised John I would see him in London in September provided I had enough money.

SAVE

I’ll visit John in London in September_________________________ money.

 

Have a lovely week! 🙂