GRAMMAR FOCUS: CONDITIONALS

What is a ‘conditional sentence’?

 Conditionals are statements that describe both hypothetical and
real scenarios
 It describes a condition and the result that follows.

 It is a sentence discussing factual implications or hypothetical

situations and their consequences
 Conditional sentences are made up of two parts: the if-clause
(condition clause) and the main clause (result clause)
 Example: If I go to the mall (condition),I will buy a pair of jeans
(result).
 The ‘result’ is the main clause and the ‘condition’ is a
subordinate (dependent) clause.
 There are four types of commonly used conditionals in English
that are differentiated on the basis of the degree of possibility
implied by each conditional. These are:

I)The zero conditional(Type0)

II)The first conditional (Type I Real, likely, probable)

III)The second conditional (Type II/ Unlikely, improbable)

IV) The third conditional (Type III/Impossible).

I)The zero conditional(Type0)
 The “0” conditional is formed with both clauses in the
present tense.
 It is used to express a certainty, a universal statement, a

law of science, etc.

If you don’t water flowers, they die.
If you have a headache, stop watching TV.
 If
clause: PRESENT SIMPLE Main clause: Present Simple
or IMPERATIVE
 Concept: A fact, something that is true under certain conditions
 In Type Zero sentences, if can be replaced by when.

 When you heat ice, it melts.

 It gets dark when the sun goes down.

II)The first conditional (Type I Real, likely,probable)
This type of sentence expresses real and possible situations in the
future; it is possible for the condition to be met.
Concept: A present or future situation of high probability
If A happens, B will happen
Formation: if + present simple + will + base verb form
An action in the future will only happen if a certain condition is
met.
We don’t know for sure whether or not the condition will be
fulfilled, but the condition is realistic and therefore likely to
happen.
 I will get to school on time if I catch the bus. It is likely that I
will catch the bus and get to school on time.
 If Faris has the money, he will buy a Ferari . (I know Faris very
well and I know that he earns a lot of money and that he loves
Fararis. So I think it is very likely that sooner or later he will
buy a Ferari when he has enough money.)
 If I get paid today, I will go shopping. (“Will” implies near
certainty about the shopping trip in case the condition is
fulfilled)
 Example: If she gets good grades, she will go to university.
 If he gets good grades, he may go to university.
 If the book is interesting, I will buy it(future)
 If the book is interesting, buy it!(imperative)
 If the book is interesting, you can buy it(modal)
 If he is snoring, I will wake him up(future)
 If he is snoring, wake him up!(imperative)
 If he is snoring, you can wake him up(modal)
III)The second conditional (Type II/Unlikely)
Concept: unreal situation
If A happens, B would happen
Unlikely Future or Imaginary Present
 The second conditional can be used to:

1) talk about imaginary present situations, where we are imagining

something different from what is really the case.
2) talk about things in the future that are unlikely to happen, as the
condition is unlikely to be met. We use the past tense in the
condition part and would and base verb form for the result.

He would travel around the world if he had a lot of money.

Formation: if + past simple + would + base verb form
E.g.. If I had the time, I would go to the show
An action could happen if the present situation were different.
It is unlikely that I will find the time to go to the show
If I had a lot of money, I would buy a big house
Meaning: I want to buy a house but I can’t do this because I don’t
have any money
Susan wants to phone Paul but she can’t do this because she
doesn’t know his number.
If I knew his number, I would phone him.
If I had the time, I would learn Italian.
 The correct form of the verb ‘to be’ to be used in conditional type II is
‘were’ for all persons. ‘Were’ is special form. It is called subjunctive
mood.
 Mood in English is the manner in which the action of the verb is
expressed. There are three moods in English. These are:
I) Indicative Mood
It is used to:
a) Make statement  She is rich.
b) Ask a question What is life?
II) Imperative Mood
It is used to a) Express a command.
Come in!
b) Make Requests
kindly take your seat.
c) Give advice
Be nice to your friend!
III) Subjunctive Mood
It is used to express possibility, wishes or a purpose or a condition
which is unreal and imagined. It isn’t in much use in modern
English.
Hence, we usually use “were” instead of “was” although the
subject is singular. We usually use “were” instead of “was” in
Type II.
If I were rich I would marry a princess.
If I were a bird, I would fly.
 IV) The third conditional (Type III/Impossible/ closed condition)
 It expresses an unreal situation in the past, with reference to the
hypothetical outcome that would result also in the past.
 They are often used to indicate a missed opportunity.

 It is used when we are talking about the past and imagining

something different from what actually happened and where the
conditions for the action were not satisfied.
 Used for past imagined situations, thinking about how things
could have been different in the past.
 If A had happened, B would have happened.
Formation: if + past perfect, + would have + past participle
 Example: I would have gone to the party if I had finished my
homework.
I wanted to go to the party but I wasn’t able to go to the party
because I hadn’t finished my homework.
Concept: A past situation too late/zero probability
 If Covid-19 hadn't become such a huge pandemic, I would have
travelled to Europe.
 If she had worked harder, she would have passed her exams.
USE: To talk about something that might have happened in the
past, but didn`t.
She didn`t work hard enough; consequently, she didn`t pass her
exams.
It also expresses excuses, regrets and blame for past events.
Jack wanted to buy a house last year but he couldn’t do that
because he didn’t have any money.
If I had had a lot of money, I would have bought a big house.
Yesterday, Susan wanted to phone Paul but she couldn’t do that
because she didn’t know his number.
I would have phoned him If I had known his number.
The third conditional refers to the past and it is not based on facts.
It expresses the a situation which is contrary to reality in the past.
Exceptions when using conditional sentences
Use of the Simple Future in the If-Clause
 Use of the Simple Future in the If-Clause
 Generally speaking, the simple future should be used only in the
main clause. One exception is when the action in the if-clause
will take place after the action in the main clause. For example,
consider the following sentence:
 If aspirin will ease my headache, I will take a couple tonight(1)
 The action in the if-clause is the aspirin easing the headache,
which will take place only after the speaker takes them later that
night.
Punctuating Conditional Sentences
The main clause can be also at the beginning of the sentence. In this
case, don't use a comma.
I will send her an invitation if I find her address
I would have cleaned the house if I’d had time.
Use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the
main clause.
If I’d had time, I would have cleaned the house.