First Conditional: real possibility
We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
| IF | condition | result |
|
| present simple | WILL + base verb |
| If | it rains | I will stay at home. |
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen. Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [IF condition result] and [result IF condition]?):
| IF | condition | result |
|
| present simple | WILL + base verb |
| If | I see Mary | I will tell her. |
| If | | he will invite her. |
| If | they do not pass their exam | their teacher will be sad. |
| If | it rains tomorrow | will you stay at home? |
| If | it rains tomorrow | what will you do? |
| result | IF | condition |
| WILL + base verb |
| present simple |
| I will tell Mary | if | I see her. |
| He will invite | if | she is free tomorrow. |
| Their teacher will be sad | if | they do not pass their exam. |
| Will you stay at home | if | it rains tomorrow? |
| What will you do | if | it rains tomorrow? |
Second Conditional: unreal possibility or dream
The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still thinking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, you do not have a lottery ticket. Is it possible to win? No! No lottery ticket, no win! But maybe you will buy a lottery ticket in the future. So you can think about winning in the future, like a dream. It's not very real, but it's still possible.
| IF | condition | result |
|
| past simple | WOULD + base verb |
| If | I won the lottery | I would buy a car. |
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. We use the past simple tense to talk about the future condition. We use WOULD + base verb to talk about the future result. The important thing about the second conditional is that there is an unreal possibility that the condition will happen.
Here are some more examples:
| IF | condition | result |
|
| past simple | WOULD + base verb |
| If | I married Mary | I would be happy. |
| If | Ram became rich | she would marry him. |
| If | it snowed next July | would you be surprised? |
| If | it snowed next July | what would you do? |
| result | IF | condition |
| WOULD + base verb |
| past simple |
| I would be happy | if | I married Mary. |
| She would marry Ram | if | he became rich. |
| Would you be surprised | if | it snowed next July? |
| What would you do | if | it snowed next July? |
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Third Conditional: no possibility
The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(
|
| condition | result |
|
| Past Perfect | WOULD HAVE + Past Participle |
| If | I had won the lottery | I would have bought a car. |
Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.
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Look at some more examples in the tables below:
| IF | condition | result |
|
| past perfect | WOULD HAVE + past participle |
| If | I had seen Mary | I would have told her. |
| If | | I would have invited her. |
| If | they had not passed their exam | their teacher would have been sad. |
| If | it had rained yesterday | would you have stayed at home? |
| If | it had rained yesterday | what would you have done? |
| result | IF | condition |
| WOULD HAVE + past participle |
| past perfect |
| I would have told Mary | if | I had seen her. |
| I would have invited | if | she had been free yesterday. |
| Their teacher would have been sad | if | they had not passed their exam. |
| Would you have stayed at home | if | it had rained yesterday? |
| What would you have done | if | it had rained yesterday? |
Zero Conditional: certainty
We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the condition is always true, like a scientific fact.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What happens? The ice melts (it becomes water). You would be surprised if it did not.
| IF | condition | result |
|
| present simple | present simple |
| If | you heat ice | it melts. |
Notice that we are thinking about a result that is always true for this condition. The result of the condition is an absolute certainty. We are not thinking about the future or the past, or even the present. We are thinking about a simple fact. We use the present simple tense to talk about the condition. We also use the present simple tense to talk about the result. The important thing about the zero conditional is that the condition always has the same result.
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Look at some more examples in the tables below:
| IF | condition | result |
|
| present simple | present simple |
| If | I miss the | I am late for work. |
| If | I am late for work | my boss gets angry. |
| If | people don't eat | they get hungry. |
| If | you heat ice | does it melt? |
| result | IF | condition |
| present simple |
| present simple |
| I am late for work | if | I miss the |
| My boss gets angry | if | I am late for work. |
| People get hungry | if | they don't eat. |
| Does ice melt | if | you heat it? |
Conditionals: Summary
Here is a chart to help you to visualize the basic English conditionals. Do not take the 50% and 10% figures too literally. They are just to help you.
| probability | conditional | example | time | |||
| 100% |
| zero conditional | If you heat ice, it melts. | any time | ||
| 50% |
| first conditional | If it rains, I will stay at home. | future | ||
| 10% |
| second conditional | If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. | future | ||
| 0% |
| third conditional | If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car. | past | ||
Conditionals Quiz
| 1 | What would you do if it on your wedding day? | |||
| 2 | If she comes I call you. | |||
| 3 | If I eat peanut butter I sick. | |||
| 4 | What will you do if you the history exam? | |||
| 5 | If they had not the car I would have driven you. | |||
| 6 | If it snows still drive to the coast? | |||
| 7 | He would have with you if you had asked him. | |||
| 8 | If I won a million dollars I my own airplane. | |||
| 9 | If I forget her birthday Andrea upset. | |||
| 10 | Jacob will pick you up at school if it | | ||
| Structure | First Conditional | Second Conditional | Third Conditional | Zero Conditional | Summary | Quiz | ||||
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