CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

THERE ARE FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH

1 – ZERO CONDITIONAL

2 – FIRST CONDITIONAL

3 – SECOND CONDITIONAL

4 – THIRD CONDITIONAL

THEY ARE ALSO CALLED ‘IF SENTENCES’

ALL THE FOUR CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ARE MADE UP OF TWO DIFFERENT CLAUSES

DEFINED AS

1   MAIN CLAUSE

2   SECONDARY, SUBORDINATE OR ‘IF’ CLAUSE

ZERO CONDITIONAL IS USED FOR REAL, FACTUAL SITUATIONS

THE TENSES WE USE ARE:

SIMPLE PRESENT IN THE IF CLAUSE SIMPLE PRESENT IN THE MAIN CLAUSE

FOR EXAMPLE:

“IF i DRINK COFFEE AT NIGHT, I DON’T SLEEP”

“IF YOU HEAT WATER, IT BOILS”

“IF YOU HEAT ICE, IT MELTS”

FIRST CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ARE USED FOR

FUTURE REAL/FACTUAL SITUATIONS OR

TO  TALK ABOUT POSSIBLE FUTURE SITUATIONS

HERE WE USE  THE PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE IN THE IF CLAUSE

AND THE FUTURE SIMPLE (AND OTHER MODAL VERBS) IN THE MAIN CLAUSE

EXAMPLES CAN BE:

“IF i DRINK COFFEE TONIGHT, I WON’T SLEEP “(WILL NOT SLEEP)

“IF I HAVE TIME, I WILL STUDY ENGLISH”

“IF I FIND HER ADDRESS, I WILL SEND HER AN INVITATION”

SECOND CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ARE USED FOR

PRESENT OR FUTURE

UNREAL OR IMAGINARY SITUATIONS

TO TALK ABOUT HYPOTHETICAL OR IMPROBABLE SITUATIONS

THE TENSES WE USE ARE:

SIMPLE PAST IN THE IF CLAUSE

SIMPLE CONDITIONAL IN THE MAIN CLAUSE

SOME EXAMPLES ARE:

“I WOULD BUY A NEW CAR IF I HAD MONEY”

“IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD MOVE TO PARIS”

“IF YOU WENT TO THE SUPERMARKET, YOU WOULD (COULD) GET SOME BREAD”

THIRD CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ARE USED FOR

PAST, UNREAL, IMAGINARY SITUATIONS OR TO TALK ABOUT

HYPOTHETICAL AND UNREAL SITUATIONS IN THE PAST

THE TENSES USED HERE ARE:

PAST PERFECT IN THE IF CLAUSE AND

WOULD HAVE + PAST PARTICPLE IN THE MAIN CLAUSE

EXAMPLES ARE:

“IF I HAD SEEN HER, I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU”

“IF YOU HAD STUDIED, YOU WOULD HAVE PASSED THE EXAM”

“IF SHE HADN’T MOVED TO ANOTHER COUNTRY, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS”

here is a video, I hope it will be helpful …..