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The Second Conditional: The Second Conditional Uses The Past Simple After If, Then 'Would' and The Infinitive

The document discusses the second conditional and its uses. The second conditional uses "if + past simple" followed by "would + infinitive" to talk about unlikely or impossible future events or present situations. It can describe dreams or imagined futures that are not likely to happen, or present situations that cannot happen due to facts. This is different from the first conditional which is used for more probable or likely future events.

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Andres Calambas
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51 views

The Second Conditional: The Second Conditional Uses The Past Simple After If, Then 'Would' and The Infinitive

The document discusses the second conditional and its uses. The second conditional uses "if + past simple" followed by "would + infinitive" to talk about unlikely or impossible future events or present situations. It can describe dreams or imagined futures that are not likely to happen, or present situations that cannot happen due to facts. This is different from the first conditional which is used for more probable or likely future events.

Uploaded by

Andres Calambas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE SECOND CONDITIONAL

the second conditional uses the past simple after if, then 'would' and the infinitive:
if + past simple, ...would + infinitive
Si vivieramos en Francia, … aprenderíamos Frances muy rápido
If we lived in France,… we would learn French very fast.

(we can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'i' and 'he/she/it'. this is mostly done in formal
writing).

Si ella fuera tu amiga, … tu le dirías la verdad


If she were your friend, you would tell her the truth
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)
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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