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The Second Conditional: Exercises Explanations Courses

The document discusses the second conditional in English grammar. It explains that the second conditional uses the past simple after "if", then "would" and the infinitive. It has two uses: 1) to talk about unlikely future possibilities, and 2) to talk about present impossibilities. Examples are provided for each use. The second conditional expresses something less likely than the first conditional, which is used for more probable future events. Practice exercises are linked.

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34 views3 pages

The Second Conditional: Exercises Explanations Courses

The document discusses the second conditional in English grammar. It explains that the second conditional uses the past simple after "if", then "would" and the infinitive. It has two uses: 1) to talk about unlikely future possibilities, and 2) to talk about present impossibilities. Examples are provided for each use. The second conditional expresses something less likely than the first conditional, which is used for more probable future events. Practice exercises are linked.

Uploaded by

George Lubiano Pastor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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8/8/2019 The Second Conditional

Courses Explanations Exercises

The Second Conditional


The second conditional uses the past simple after if, then 'would' and the infinitive:

if + past simple, ...would + infinitive

(We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. This is mostly done in formal
writing).

It has two uses.

First, we can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true.
Maybe I'm imagining some dream for example.

If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.(I probably won't win the lottery)
If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello.
She would travel all over the world if she were rich.
She would pass the exam if she ever studied.(She never studies, so this won't happen)

Second, we can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's
not true. Is that clear? Have a look at the examples:

If I had his number, I would call him. (I don't have his number now, so it's impossible
for me to call him).
If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man.

How is this different from the first conditional?


This kind of conditional sentence is different from the first conditional because this is a lot
more unlikely.

For example (second conditional): If I had enough money I would buy a house with twenty
bedrooms and a swimming pool (I'm probably not going to have this much money, it's just a
dream, not very real)

But (first conditional): If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes (It's much more likely
that I'll have enough money to buy some shoes)

Click here to practise making the second conditional.


Click here for all the conditional exercises.
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