CONDITIONALS

TIME CLAUSES
WISH / IF ONLY
 CONDITIONALS

 Two parts can be distinguished in a conditional sentence:

the condition and the result. The result depends on
the condition.
 We have "real conditionals" (which talk about real
possibilities) and "unreal conditionals" (which talk about
imaginary or impossible situations).
Real conditionals:
o Zero Conditional:
o If someone breaks a window, an alarm goes off.
o First Conditional:
o If I miss the bus tonight, I'll take a taxi instead.

Unreal conditionals:
o Second Conditional:
If I owned a car, I would drive to work.
o Third Conditional:
If I had studied harder, I would have passed the test.
o Mixed Conditional:
If I had finished my work yesterday, I wouldn't be
so stressed out today.
ZERO CONDITIONAL

If you don’t water flowers, they die.

CONDITION RESULT

If you have a headache, stop watching TV.

If clause: Main clause:

PRESENT SIMPLE, PRESENT SIMPLE or
IMPERATIVE

With zero conditional, we express a general truth or we

give advice.
 Use of “If” (condition) vs “When” (time
clauses)
The word if implies that a situation happens less frequently,
and the word when implies it happens more frequently:

 If I have a day off from work, I usually go to the park.

(it implies that having a day off from work is not frequent)

 When I go to my favorite restaurant, the waiters greet

me by name.
(it implies that I go to this restaurant frequently)
 FIRST CONDITIONAL

Whereas the zero conditional talks about real present situations,

the first conditional talks about real future possibilities.

If the weather is nice, we will go for a walk.

If you don’t apologize, she will never trust you again.

If clause: Main clause:

PRESENT SIMPLE FUTURE SIMPLE
Unless (=if not) is also possible.
Ex: Unless the weather is nice, we won’t go for a walk.
Unless you apologize, she’ll never trust you again
First Conditional: Real Future Possibilities

We can also reverse the order of the condition and result in the
sentence, with no change in meaning:
 We'll go to the beach if it's sunny tomorrow.
 We'll go to the movies if it rains tomorrow.
Other words besides “If”
 In first conditional sentences, it is possible to use other
words instead of “if” or “unless”:

o “As long as” or “providing that” mean “but only if”.

Compare:
They’ll succeed but only if they try hard.
They’ll succeed as long as they try hard.

o As soon as (to emphasize immediacy):

Ex: This situation is very urgent. I’ll call you as soon as I
have more information.
When, as soon as, by the time, the moment (that), until…
They are called time clauses but they have the same
structure as First Conditional Sentences.
 Practice time!
Now choose the correct option for each verb:
1. I'm going to take a shower as soon as I get / will get home from the
gym
2. Unless I find/ will find my watch, I have / I'll have to buy a new one.
3. If the surgery isn't / won’t be successful, he has / 'll have just six
months to live.
4. You have / You’ll have a great time if you go / you’ll go to Rio.
5. We are / We’ll be disappointed if nobody comes / will come to our
party on Friday.
6. If you forget / you’ll forget your wife's birthday next week, she is /
she’ll be upset.
7. I give / I’ll give him the documents when I see / I’ll see him later
today.
8. When I get / will get married, I have / I’m going to have a simple
wedding.
Second Conditional
If I had a lot of money, I would buy a big
house.
Condition Result
If I knew his number, I would (I’d) phone
if-clause: main clause:
him.
PAST SIMPLE TENSE CONDITIONAL SIMPLE
would / might / could + infinitive

We use would when the result is more definite or certain.

Ex: If Peter asked Karen out, she would say yes.
We use might when the result may or may not happen:
Ex: If Peter asked Karen out, she might say yes... or she might say no.
We use could to talk about possibilities or abilities.
Ex: If I had a million dollars, I could buy a helicopter,
I could live in a mansion, I could quit my job….
One final note on Second Conditional
 Which is correct?
 If I was rich, I’d buy a boat. Or If I were rich, I’d buy a boat.
 If Dana was here right now, she’d agree.
 If Dana were here right now, she’d agree.
 Technically the correct answer is were in both cases…
even though the subject is singular, we use were when
talking about hypothetical situations. However, informally,
more and more people are saying sentences like these
with was when the subject is singular. It’s not correct, but it
is common. To be on the safe side, it’s best to stick with
were!
 One very common phrase for giving advice is in the
second conditional: “If I were you, I’d…”
 Practise time! 2nd conditional
 Complete the sentences with the verbs in the correct
tenses. Pay careful attention to which part of the
sentence is the condition, and which part is the
result! When possible, abbreviate “would” to “‘d”.
a) ate
If you _____(eat) ‘d have
a healthy breakfast, you __________
(have) more energy.
b) ‘d call
I ___________ had
(call) him if I ___________ (have) his
number.
c) were
If he __________ (be) more organized, he
__________________
wouldn’t forget (not forget) so many things.
d) would it take (it take) if we
How long _________________
hired (hire) someone to do this work?
__________
FIRST v. SECOND CONDITIONAL

If John runs fast, he will win the

race.
This is still possible to happen.

If John ran fast, he would win the race.

This is unlikely to happen because John doesn’t run fast.

THE DIFFERENCE: FIRST and SECOND CONDITIONAL

Both conditionals refer to the present and future.
The difference is about probability, not time.
First conditional: real and possible situations
Second conditional: unlikely to happen
 THIRD CONDITIONAL
Now we'll take those wishes one step further – imagining the result, in
the past, if that past situation had been different:

If I had woken up 15 minutes earlier, I would have arrived on

time.
If I hadn’t eaten that seafood yesterday, I wouldn’t have got
sick.
if-clause: main clause:
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE CONDITIONAL PERFECT
had + past participle would / could / might + have + p. participle

Other examples:
If we had brought our camera, we might have taken a picture.
Sarah could have learnt French if she had taken lessons.

The third conditional refers to the past and it is not based on facts. It
expresses an impossible situation.
THIRD CONDITIONAL

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.
THIRD CONDITIONAL

Yesterday, Susan wanted to phone Paul but she

couldn’t do that because she didn’t know his number.

If I had known his

number,
I would have phoned
him.
 SECOND v. THIRD CONDITIONAL

If I saw a car accident, I would call an ambulance.

But I don’t see an accident now. This is unlikely to happen.

If I had seen a car accident, I would have called an

ambulance.
But I didn’t see an accident yesterday.

THE DIFFERENCE: SECOND and THIRD CONDITIONAL

The difference is about time.
Second conditional: refers to the present and future.
Third conditional: refers to the past situations.
 A bit of rephrasing…
a) I’m not rich so I don’t travel a lot. => If I…
If I were rich, I’d travel a lot.
b) She didn’t wake up early, so she missed the train. =>
If she the train.
If she had woken up earlier, she wouldn’t have missed the
train.
c) I didn’t call you because I came back really late. =>
I earlier.
I would have called you if I had come back earlier.
d) He doesn’t have a job, that’s why he can’t buy a house. =>
If he …
e) He had that terrible accident because he wasn’t careful. =>
If he accident.
If he had been careful, he wouldn’t have had that terrible accident.
e) I didn’t work hard, so I didn’t pass the exam. =>
If I the exam.
If I had worked hard, I would have passed the exam.
f) They can’t live in this country because they can’t find a job here.
=>They a job here.
They’d live in this country if they found a job here.
g) Visiting Israel won’t be possible without a visa. =>
Unless you Israel.
Unless you have a visa, you won’t be able to visit Israel / it will be
impossible to visit Israel.
 ALL CONDITIONALS

0. If it rains, the grass gets wet.

General time reference.

1. If it rains today, you will get wet (you don’t have an

umbrella). This is still possible to happen.

2. If it rained, you would get wet.

But the sky is blue. This is unlikely to happen.

3. If it had rained yesterday, you would have got wet.

But it didn’t rain, so you didn’t get wet.(past situation)
 I WISH + PAST SIMPLE

 One simple way to imagine that things in the

present were different is to use
wish + past simple (=Ojalá…)

Examples:
a) I live in a big city, but I wish I lived near the beach.
b) My parents are so busy that they have no free time.
I wish they didn’t work so much.
I WISH + PAST SIMPLE
Jack wants to buy a house but he doesn’t have any money.

If I had a lot of money,

I would buy a big house.

I wish I …
I wish I had a lot of money to buy a
house.
I WISH + PAST SIMPLE

Susan wants to phone Paul but she can’t

because she doesn’t know his number.

If I knew his
number,
I would phone
him.

I wish…
I wish I knew his number…
I WISH + PAST PERFECT
Let's imagine a different past using wish. For
hypothetical past situations, use
wish + past perfect (had + p. part)

Examples:
I was late for work today. I wish I had woken up 15
minutes earlier.
I wish I hadn’t eaten that seafood yesterday – it
made me sick.
This is used to express regret or past situations you wanted
to be different.
 WISH – IF ONLY…
“If only” has the same meaning as “I wish” but it’s more
emphatic. The clause with “if only” often stands alone, without a
main clause.
 Both “wish” and “if only” can be used with:

a) Past simple

(to talk about the present events. It expresses regret that things are
not different) :
I wish / If only I had a better job. I wish I was taller.

Remember! To be in the past: always “were”: I wish were that simple!

 WISH – IF ONLY…
 Both “wish” and “if only” can be used with:

b) Past Perfect

(to talk about the past and it expresses regret about them.)

Oh, I wasn’t expecting you. I wish you had called before coming
over.
If only she hadn’t told the police, everything would have been all
right.
 WISH – IF ONLY…
 Both “wish” and “if only” can be used with:

c) Could / Would + infinitive (We’re not happy about a situation (regret,

annoyance) and we wish it changes in the future).

I wish I could afford it. If only it would stop raining!

Everybody wishes you would go home. (Why don’t you go home?)

If the subject is “I” or ”we” => “could” is often used.

I wish our sales would improve <=> I wish we could go together.