Conditionals: English Class With Valeria
Conditionals: English Class With Valeria
Conditionals: English Class With Valeria
If + condition + result
If + condition + result
If you drink too much Coke, you get diabetes. (comma)
We can use “when” because the result always happens when the
condition is true
condition result
First conditionals
They describe a specific future event.
They don’t describe a fact or a regular action.
Form:
If + condition + result
If you call me tonight, I’ll be happy.
We use the past simple for the if clause (the condition) and
would for the second clause.
The past indicates a distance from reality, but it doesn’t
indicate past time. It expresses an unreal situation and not a
Second conditionals
When the verb to be is a main verb in the condition, there is a special
rule. The tense is the past simple but it is the subjunctive mood.
This situation is more real. It is realistic. The speaker is a student dreaming about
the future, but also making a commitment. The difference in meaning is not the
time or the tense, it is that the second one is an unreal situation and the first one is
real.
Modals in the second conditionals
If he studied English everyday, he would improve.
It is unlikely that he will study English everyday. But I’m certain that he would
improve.
In reality, Mark wasn’t a good boyfriend. The person didn’t stay because Mark wasn’t a
good boyfriend. The condition is impossible because it’s in the past. We cannot change
the past. Therefore, we use the third conditional to imagine a different past.
Third conditionals
Form: If + condition + result
If I had made more money when I was younger, I would have travelled the
world.
I would have travelled the world if I had made more money when I was
younger.
Meaning: In reality I did not make more money when I was younger, so I did not
travelled the world.
Third conditionals
Verb tense: If + subject + past perfect