Certified English teacher and language coach

Conditionals are an important part of everyday English, we simply need them in a lot of situations. Therefore, let’s take a look at them.

Conditional Sentences

Clauses with “if” in English can seem complicated because of the rules that apply to the tenses used in each case. We’ll discuss the conditionals in English here.

0. The Zero Conditional: general truths

     if + present simple  //  present simple

e.g.: If you want to speak a language, you have to practise it (a lot).

1. The First Conditional: expresses a possible situation and its result, with reference to the future

     if + present simple  //  will + infinitive

e.g.: If the weather is nice, we will go to the ZOO.

2. The Second Conditional: expresses an unreal situation and its (imaginary) result, with reference to the present

     if + past simple  //  would + infinitive

e.g.: If you loved her, you would marry her.  (meaning/assumption: you don’t love her)

3. The Third Conditional: expresses an unreal situation and its result, neither of which took place; reference to the past

     if + past perfect  //  would have + past participle (V3)

e.g.: If the fire brigade hadn’t arrived in time, the house would have burnt down.  (meaning: the fire brigade DID arrive on time and, as a result, the house DIDN’T burn down)

4. Mixed Conditionals: combination of third and second, in either order

e.g.1: If I hadn’t broken my leg, I would come with you now.

(Meaning: I broke my leg (in the past), which is a fact, and that’s why I am not coming with you in the present.)

e.g.2: I would have called you if I were an idiot.

(With reference to a particular past situation where I didn’t call you /this is a fact/, and the reason for it is that I am not an idiot /general fact/.)

e.g.3: If I hadn’t read this whole article, I wouldn’t be so tired now.

(Meaning: I read this article some time ago in the past and now in the present, as a result, I am tired.)

And now, the fun part:

And an easy-peasy one, you just have to put the words in the right order to make conditionals: