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    The Second Conditional

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    diana
    The second conditional uses the past simple after "if", then "would" and the infinitive to talk about unreal or improbable situations in the present or future. It can describe possible events that are unlikely to happen, such as winning the lottery, or impossible current situations, like calling someone without their number. The third conditional uses the past perfect after "if" followed by "would have" and the past participle to talk about unreal or incomplete past situations and their possible results, such as failing an exam because one did not study.

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    The Second Conditional

    Uploaded by

    diana
    17 views2 pages
    The second conditional uses the past simple after "if", then "would" and the infinitive to talk about unreal or improbable situations in the present or future. It can describe possible events that are unlikely to happen, such as winning the lottery, or impossible current situations, like calling someone without their number. The third conditional uses the past perfect after "if" followed by "would have" and the past participle to talk about unreal or incomplete past situations and their possible results, such as failing an exam because one did not study.

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    The second conditional uses the past simple after "if", then "would" and the infinitive to talk about unreal or improbable situations in the present or future. It can describe possible events that are unlikely to happen, such as winning the lottery, or impossible current situations, like calling someone without their number. The third conditional uses the past perfect after "if" followed by "would have" and the past participle to talk about unreal or incomplete past situations and their possible results, such as failing an exam because one did not study.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    17 views2 pages

    The Second Conditional

    Uploaded by

    diana
    The second conditional uses the past simple after "if", then "would" and the infinitive to talk about unreal or improbable situations in the present or future. It can describe possible events that are unlikely to happen, such as winning the lottery, or impossible current situations, like calling someone without their number. The third conditional uses the past perfect after "if" followed by "would have" and the past participle to talk about unreal or incomplete past situations and their possible results, such as failing an exam because one did not study.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    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.

    the Third Conditional


    We make the third conditional by using the past perfect after 'if' and then 'would
    have' and the past participle in the second part of the sentence:

     if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle

    It talks about the past. It's used to describe a situation that didn't happen, and to
    imagine the result of this situation.

     If she had studied, she would have passed the exam (but, really we


    know she didn't study and so she didn't pass)
     If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick (but I did eat a lot,
    and so I did feel sick).
     If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plane
     She wouldn't have been tired if she had gone to bed earlier
     She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university
     He would have been on time for the interview if he had left the house at
    nine

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