Real Conditionals

Grammar Teacher
All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists
entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
Buddha
.
- . ,
, ? , - .
, , ,
.
... , ,
, ,
. .
, .
, . :
, ,
.
, , ,
. ,
. Thats what we call objective conditions (all the things that affect the way something happens) and
circumstances (facts or events that make a situation the way it is).
This time well learn about the way we can talk about different conditions in English. And this way is calledCONDITIONAL
SENTENCES. They play an important role in English grammar and they are actually some of the most useful structures in
English and are commonly included in daily conversations.
All conditional sentences contain a dependent clause and an independent clause. The dependent clause usually
begins with if; it expresses a condition. The independent clause expresses a result of the condition.

IF

CONDITION

RESULT

IF

y=10

2y=20

The if-clause is usually first, but the order of the clauses is not really important. Thus, this variant is good as well:

RESULT

IF

CONDITION

2y=20

IF

y=10

There are two kinds of conditional sentences: real and unreal. Real Conditional (Zero and First Conditionals) describes
real-life situations. It expresses an idea which is probably true, or at least very possible. Unreal Conditional (Second
and Third Conditionals) describes unreal, imaginary situations. We use Unreal conditionals when the idea expressed in
the if-clause is impossible or unlikely.

Let us have a close look at Real Conditionals.

1. Zero Conditional (Real Present Conditional)

Look at the sentence: If it is a public holiday, the banks do not open.
Is there anything unreal about it? Of course, not. Moreover, it shows us the situation that
everybody knows about.
The Zero Conditional is a structure which is used for talking about general truths, or
scientific facts things which happen under certain conditions. In structures like this, if
means the same as when or every time, because were talking in general, not about one
particular case.
E.g.: If you save up money, youre less worried about your future.
Zero conditional is easy to form because
all the verbs are in present tense.
IF

If

CONDITION

RESULT

present simple

present simple

you heat ice

it melts

NOTE! Modal verbs are also widely used in the Zero Conditional sentences.
E.g.: If you get wet, you can catch a cold.
If you work in an office, you have to wear official clothes.
We also use The Zero Conditional to talk about our habits or behavior under certain
conditions. For example:
I get angry if people are late for meetings.
If I cook soup, I add different spices.

2. First Conditional (Real Future Conditional)

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in
the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will
happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. Youre planning to play tennis this
afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
IF

CONDITION

RESULT

present simple

WILL-base verb

it rains

I will stay at home

If
IF-CLAUSE

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is
cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about

the possible future condition (NOT WILL). Modal verbs, Present Continuous and Present
Perfect are also possible in the if-clause.
Study these examples:
If I can finish work early, Ill come and help you.
If youre going shopping, will you buy me some milk?
If he has had enough, hell stop.

THE RESULT CLAUSE

We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing
about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen.
E.g.: If I go to my friend's house for dinner tonight, I will take a bottle of wine or some
flowers. (I AM STILL NOT SURE WHETHER I WILL GO TO HIS HOUSE OR NOT,
BUT THERES A REAL POSSIBILITY).
WILL can be replaced with might, may, can, could to show that something is less certain:
If you go now, you may/might see her (Its possible but not definite)
If I pass my exam, we can/could celebrate (We can celebrate if we want to).
We can also use other modals instead of WILL:
You should take his advice if he gives you one.
If I have free time, I must go to see my granny.
Imperative (instruction, advice) is also widely used in the result clause.
If she comes, tell her to wait for me.
be going to is used in the result clause to talk about plans and intentions.
If Helen passes all her exams, we are going to buy her a big present.

In the table below you can see some particular uses of Real Conditionals.

Structure

Zero Conditional
(Real Present
Conditional)

First Conditional

Usage

IF-clause: Present Tense

Main Clause: Present Tense
(Modals)

- FACTS
If you cut your finger, you
bleed.
- GENERAL TRUTHS
If you exercise regularly, you
feel better.
- SOMEONES HABITS
If I order coffee, I ask for milk
and sugar.

IF-clause: Present Tense

- PREDICTIONS

(Real Future
Conditional )

Main Clause: will (modals,

imperative, be going to) + V1

You will get good marks if you

study hard.
- OFFERS
If you ask me, Ill wash all
dishes
- WARNINGS
If you touch that switch, youll
hurt yourself.
- TREATS
If you do that again, Ill call the
police
- ADVICE
If you stop eating fat food,
youll lose weight.

And now as usual you have a couple of tasks:

Task 1.
Have you ever heard of Murphys Law? This is various sarcastical statements like If
many things can go wrong, they will all go wrong at the same time. Let us see... All
you need is just match the sentences in A with those in B.

A.
If you bring a solar powered calculator to a test,
If you are interested in someone,
If you think a girl is beautiful,
If your looking for more than one thing,.
If your toast falls on the floor

B.
a close friend will grab their attention.
her boyfriend will always be there to confirm it.
itll fall on the buttered side.
itll fall on the buttered side.

you'll find the most important one last

the room lights won't work.

Task 2.
How would you complete the following sentences using the same manner like in
Murphys Law?

1)

If you go behind a girl.

2)

If you're having difficulties choosing between potential two girls/boys..

3)

If you say something, and stake your reputation on it

4)

If a girl tells you "let's stay friends".

5)

If you are given a take home exam..

Unreal Conditional. Let's dream!

Grammar Teacher
First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans
into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.
Napoleon Hill

Do you consider yourself to be in touch with reality? Are you really sure that a floor
can't also be a ceiling? Finally, how do we know that the sky is not green and we are all
colour-blind? As you see, reality (whatever it is) always leaves a lot to imagination.
Let us read a piece of Lewis Carrolls story:

"I can't believe that!" said Alice.

"Can't you?" the queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again,
draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One
can't believe impossible things."
"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the
queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an
hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six
impossible things before breakfast."

Shall I teach you how to

dream? Oh no, thats definitely a
personal science of everyone. But theres something else I want to tell you about and the
topic is called UNREAL CONDITIONAL. There are two types of UNREAL CONDITIONAL
sentences The Second Conditional and The Third Conditional. They are
calledUNREAL because in these constructions the 'if' clause expresses a condition

(present, future or past) which is not true and cant be possible in real life.

The Second Conditional refers to an unreal (or very unlikely) situation

in the PRESENTor FUTURE time. That is what we can only imagine. The most confusing
thing about the second conditional is that we use the PAST TENSE in the 'if' clause, even
though we are referring to the PRESENT or FUTURE!
I am very busy (and very broke) writing this post now. As I am sitting here in front of
my computer, I am thinking about taking a trip to Malaysia (that has been my dream for the
last half a year). It would be really nice to go to the airport and get on a plane right now.
However, this is completely impossible! I can express this by saying:

If I had enough money (but I dont have)

If I didnt have to work (but I have to)
If I could fly (but that will never happen)

I would travel to Malaysia.

The structure of the Second Conditional sentences is:

If clause

The result clause

if + subject + simple past verb

subject + would + verb

There is one other rule you should be aware of. (You will hear native speakers
break this rule, but you should use it especially in formal speech and formal writing.) If the
main verb in the "if" clause is"be," we use "WERE" with ALL subjects, including first and
third person singular. Consider the following examples:
"If Napoleon were alive today, he would be fighting a war." (UNREAL: Napoleon is dead.)
"If my brother were here, he would buy me a beer." (UNREAL: My brother is in Costa
Rica.)
However, in everyday conversation, "was" is often used. As well as would may be
contracted to'd:
She d marry Ram if he was rich.
The expression If I were you is mainly used to give advice:
If I were you, I'd look for a new place to live.
If I were you, I'd go back to school and get more qualifications.
Sometimes, we use could or might instead of would to make the situation in the result clause less certain. If I
had the chance to do it again, I would do it differently. (thats for sure)

 If we met up for lunch, we could go to that new restaurant. (or to any other place)
If I spoke to him directly, I might persuade him. (but Im not certain)
Theres a nice song 'If I were a carpenter' by Johnny and June Cash containing a lot of The Second Conditional
sentences. It starts:
Johnny Cash: If I were a carpenter
And you were a lady,
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?
June Carter: If you were a carpenter,
And I were a lady,
I'd marry you anyway.
I'd have your baby."

The Third Conditional refers to an unreal situation in the PAST. In other words, it refers to something that
did NOT happen in the past, though maybe it was one of the options. The conditions in The 3rd Conditional
are impossible because they are in the past and we cannot change what has happened. The third conditional is also like
a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
My mother is very thin-skinned and its very easy to hurt her. I know this and still often rudely talk to her. Last night we
had a serious argument. I sad something really offensive and she started crying.

I WOULDNT HAVE SAID those words if I HAD KNOWN they would make her cry.
I really regret offending her, but I cant change it, because whats past is past. So the condition was
not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the Past
Perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + Past Participle to
talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third
conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.

If clause

The result clause

if + subject + Past
Perfect

subject + would have + Past

Participle

Study these examples:

IF

CONDITION

RESULT

EXPLANATION

IF

I had had time

I would have gone to see him

- but I didn't have time

IF

we had caught the earlier

train

we would have got there on

time

- but we were late

Notice that the main clause can contain 'would', 'could' or 'might:
1) If I had seen him at the meeting, I would have asked him. (But he wasn't there so I didn't.)
2) If I had seen him at the meeting, I could have asked him. ( But he wasn't there so it wasn't possible.)
3) If I had seen him at the meeting, I might have asked him. (But I'm not sure. Perhaps if the opportunity had arisen.)

Homer Simpson once said: If God had wanted us to be vegetarians, he wouldnt have made animals out of meat.

NOTE!
2 3
,
, .
, , , .

(yesterday, now, tomorrow) , .
, :
If I talked to her, she would forgive me.
If I had talked to her, she would have forgiven me.
2 ,
:
1) The Second Conditional ,
The Third Conditional .
2) , The Second Conditional ,
(you can earn money, you can find time for travelling), The Third
Conditional , ,
.
Now as you are informed enough I want to propose you a couple of creative tasks.
Task 1. Just answer the question:

Task 2. Do you believe in fate? Are things pre-determined to happen? Or is it all just coincidence? The following scene
from the movie The curious case of Benjamin Button puts across an important message. Daisy, who devoted her life
into dancing, was hit by a taxi. But if only one thing at that time had happened differently the end of Daisys afternoon

would have been another one. Watch the scene and write as many sentences using The Third Conditional as you can
hear.

Mixed Conditionals
Grammar Teacher
Hi, guys!
Id like to start with something to lighten up your mood:
Lets watch this video:

So, if this guy had a nice voice, he would have had success.

What kind of sentence is that? Yay, its a conditional sentence. But its not a usual
conditional. Its special.

Does he have a nice voice now? Nope, he doesnt. So the condition is still true. The
condition is in the present, because its still true. Thats why we need to use if + past
tense (past simple or past continuous) to talk about the condition of this mixed
conditional.

When did he sing? In the past or in the present? In the past, thats right. So if he had a
good voice (which he still doesnt have) he WOULD HAVE SUNG better, and he WOULD
HAVE HAD success. So the result is in the past, thats why we use WOULD + perfect
infinitive (have + V3).

To sum it up, we use this type of mixed conditional to talk about the result in the past
of a condition that is still true.

If I could fly (I still cant) I would have flown to England last year.
If Jane had more money (she still doesnt), she would have bought a house earlier.
Usually, mixed conditionals are a mixture of the second and third conditionals.

If + Past tense

Would have V3

If I had more free time

I wouldve bought Christmas presents for all my friends last week.
If he knew English better, he would have passed his TOEFL exam.
Lets look at this guy. What is he doing? Hes cheating, isnt he? Pretty smart way of
cheating, too. Wish Id thought of that when I was studying at the Uni.

If hed studied harder, he wouldnt need to cheat now.

This is also a mixed conditional. Lets see why its mixed.

Had he studied? Nope, he hadnt. So the condition (the studying) is in the past, right?
Well, if hed studied, he wouldnt need to cheat. Does he need to cheat? Yes he does.
And he needs to cheat NOW, not in the past.

So we have a condition in the past (which already didnt happen) and its possible result
in the present.

Thats why this conditional is also mixed. We have the condition part taken from the
third (past) conditional, and the result part taken from the 2nd (unreal present and
future) conditional.

If + Past Perfect
Would + Past Tense
If hed earned more money last year,

he would have a car now.

If Lily and Jack had got married 3 years earlier,

they would have two kids by now.

If Martha hadnt forgot to lock her apartment,

set now.

she wouldnt need to buy a new TV

Check out this video: Over here you can find a detailed explanationof the mixed
conditionals.

11.

 " ". Conditionals

. - ,
Mixed Conditional.
Mixed Conditional?

1) " "
2) , - , - Mixed
Conditional .
: , .
"". - (
). - ( ).
Mixed Conditional.
. , .
"". ( ),
( ). Mixed Conditional.
Mixed Conditional Second Third Conditional. "".
Second Conditional " " , Third Conditional " " ,
Mixed Conditional , .
Mixed Conditional?
If + + Past Perfect | + would + 1 .
: , .
If Masha had married George, she would live in America.
. , .
If we hadnt missed the train, we would be home already.
.
1. , 2, 3
Mixed. .
1. , .
2. , .
3. , .
4. , ""
.
5. , .
6. , .
7. , .
2. , Mixed Conditional.

1. , .
2. , .
3. , ?
4. , .
5. , .
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7. , .
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, Conditionals.
Conditionals? E "" -
Conditionals, .
"", - second, third, Mixed
Conditional.
"" - zero first Conditional.
? "IF" , Conditional
, .

Conditional Exercise 10

Mixed Conditionals

Using the words in parentheses, complete the text below following the example given
with the appropriate conditional form, then click the "Check" button to check your
answers.
1.a. She will take care of the children for us next weekend because her business trip
was canceled.
1.b. But, she (take, not) would not be taking care of the children for us next weekend if
her business trip (be, not) had not been canceled.

2.a. Tom is not going to come to dinner tomorrow because you insulted him yesterday.
2.b. But, he (come) if you (insult) him.

3.a. Marie is unhappy because she gave up her career when she got married.
3.b. But, Marie (be) happy if she (give, not) up her career when she got married.

4.a. Dr. Mercer decided not to accept the research grant at Harvard because he is
going to take six months off to spend more time with his family.
4.b. But, Dr. Mercer (accept) the research grant at Harvard if he (take, not) six months
off to spend more time with his family.

5.a. Professor Schmitz talked so much about the Maasai tribe because she is an expert
on African tribal groups.
5.b. But, Professor Schmitz (talk, not) so much about the Maasai tribe if she (be, not)
an expert on African tribal groups.

6.a. I am unemployed because I had a disagreement with my boss and I was fired.
6.b. But, I (be, not) unemployed if I (have, not) a disagreement with my boss and I
(be, not) fired.

7.a. Nicole speaks Chinese fluently because she lived in China for ten years.
7.b. But, Nicole (speak, not) Chinese fluently if she (live, not) in China for ten years.

8.a. I will not help you study for your test because you have spent the last two weeks
partying and wasting time.
8.b. But, I (help) you study for your test if you (spend, not) the last two weeks
partying and wasting time.

9.a. Eleanor and Ben are not going skiing with us this year because Eleanor just had a
baby.
9.b. But, Eleanor and Ben (go) skiing with us this year if Eleanor (have, not, just) a
baby.

10.a. I am completely exhausted, so I will not go with you to the movies tonight.
10.b. But, if I (be, not) completely exhausted, I (go) with you to the movies tonight.

11.a. She is not worried about the conference tomorrow because she is not giving a
speech.
11.b. But, she (be) worried about the conference tomorrow if she (give) a speech.

12.a. Frank is not going to the graduation ceremony because he broke his leg
snowboarding last week.
12.b. But, Frank (go) to the graduation ceremony if he (break) his leg snowboarding
last week.

13.a. They are not releasing the prisoner next month because there was so much
public opposition to his parole.
13.b. But, they (release) the prisoner next month if there (be) so much opposition to
his parole.

14.a. The hotels filled up months in advance because the festival is going to include
jazz artists from around the globe.
14.b. But, the hotels (fill) up months in advance if the festival (include) jazz artists
from around the globe.

15.a. We are not worried about the recent string of robberies in the neighborhood
because the police have started regularly patrolling the area.
15.b. But, we (be) worried about the recent string of robberies in the neighborhood if
the police (start, not) regularly patrolling the area.

Mixed Conditionals
Complete with the right tense expressing the conditional.

English exercise "Mixed Conditionals" created

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1. If you take my advice, you
2. What would you do if you
3. If you
weeks.

(be) happy.
(be) me?
(lend) me some books I will give them back in two

4. I

(send) her a letter if I had found her address.

5. She
6. If she

(not/steal) the bread if she hadn't been hungry.

(come) here I will tell her about the film.

7. I will be unhappy if you

(leave) me.

8. If you hadn't been so crazy you

house.
9. If the sun
10. If I

(not/buy) this expensive

(shine) I will go to the beach.

(win) the lottery I would leave my country.