We’ d be lying on a beach now if we hadn’t missed the plane. If you’ d studied harder, you’ d be at a higher level now. It’s possible to combine the second and third conditional in one sentence when we want to make a hypothesis about the past that has a consequence in the present. You could have helped me if you’ d stayed later. They wouldn’t have hired you if you hadn’t had some experience abroad. What would you have studied if you hadn’t done engineering? If I hadn’t learnt English, I wouldn’t have got this job. If they had booked earlier, they could have found better seats. If you hadn’t forgotten her birthday, she wouldn’t have been upset. If we had left earlier, we would have arrived on time. We often use the third conditional to describe regrets. We use the third conditional to talk about impossible situations, as in the second conditional, in the past. For example:ī: If I were you, I’d ask your teacher for help.Ī: This order won’t be delivered on time.ī: If I were you, I’d phone the customer to let them know. The expression is ‘ If I were you, I’d.’, meaning ‘in your situation, this is what I would do’. You wouldn’t have to walk everywhere if you bought a bike.Ī common expression used to give advice has the second conditional structure. What would you do if you were offered a job in Canada? If he didn’t have to work late, he could go out with his girlfriend. If I were rich, I’ d spend all my time travelling. We use the second conditional to talk about improbable or impossible situations in the present or future. We’ll stay at home unless the weather improves. I’ll carry on doing this work, unless my boss tells me to do something else. Unless you hurry up, you won’t catch the bus. As with ‘if’, the word ‘unless’ can never be followed by ‘will’ but only by the present simple. If he studies hard, he’ ll do well in the exam.Īnother way to make first conditional sentences is to use ‘unless’ which means ‘only if’ or ‘except’. If you’ re not back by 5pm, give me a ring. If they’ re hungry, I’ ll make some sandwiches. If you’ re free later, we can go for a walk. The structure of the first conditional is as follows: We use the first conditional to talk about a realistic situation in the present or future. If we go out with friends, we normally go to a restaurant. If it doesn’t rain for a long time, the earth gets very dry. We use the zero conditional to talk about permanent truths, such as scientific facts, and general habits. Let’s look at each conditional to see how we use them. It is also possible to mix the second and third conditional. There are four types of conditional sentences: What happens if the students don’t pass an exam? How can you finish the project if you don’t have a computer? We can also invert the two parts of a conditional sentence so that the ‘if’ part comes second, and this is especially common in questions. There are always two parts to a conditional sentence – one part beginning with ‘if’ to describe a possible situation, and the second part which describes the consequence. What is a Conditional Sentence?Ī conditional sentence is based on the word ‘if’. To have a general idea of how all the conditionals work, take a look at this overview so you can start to get an idea of what they are and when we use them. There are four conditionals in total and you will learn to use them gradually, obviously starting with the most basic ones – the zero and first conditional. Making conditional sentences is an everyday part of your native language, and introducing them to your English conversation can really improve your level of communication.
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