CONDITIONALS

A conditional statement is a sentence that is made up of two clauses or sentences that refer to a condition and the result of this.

We have four conditional sentences:

•  Present Real or Zero conditional – Usually refers to a general truth.

• Future Possible or First Conditional – Usually refers to a future event.

• Present Unreal or Second Conditional – Usually refers to a Hypothetical situation.

• Past unreal or Third Conditional – Usually refers to a Hypothetical outcome.

Remember that conditional statements will always contain two clauses, one called if clause or condition and the other called main clause or result.

The Present Real condition or Zero conditional refers to conditions or situations that are always true or that always take place. We can also refer this as a Universal Truth.

    If + subject / pronoun + verb + complement  +  Subject / Pronoun + Verb + Complement.

                  If clause or Condition                                          Main Clause or Result

 In a Present Real situation  if the if clause or condition takes place the result always happens, take a look at the following example.

• If I wake up late on weekdays, I get late to my office.

• If Susan gets a headache, she takes an aspirin.

• If they arrive late after the party, their parents get mad.

In both parts of the present real situation, statements are written in simple present tense.

The word order in a conditional statement may be reverse but the meaning will be the same. The comma will no be used if you start with the main clause or with the condition.

• I get late to my office if I wake up late on weekdays.

• Susan takes an aspirin if she gets a heatache.

• Thier parents get angry if they arrive late after the party.

In a Future Possible Conditional or First Conditional we are referring to a possible situation or scenario in the future. here if the condition takes place the result is likely to happen.

If + subject / pronoun + verb + complement  +  Subject / Pronoun + Modal + Base form Verb + Complement.

                                                                                                      can, will, may

                 If clause / Condition                                                      Main clause / Result

• If I have money this weekend, I will buy a pair of new shoes. (The use of "will" implies that buying a pair of shoes is likely to happen)

• If we don't tell my parents the truth, they may get angry at us. (The use of "may" implies that the result of telling my parent the truth is likely to happen)

Remember that if want to start with the result we only ommit the comma.

• I will buy a pair of new shoes If I have money this weekend.

• My parents may get angry at us if we tell them the truth.

Present Unreal or Second Conditional.

This conditional refers to hypothetical events in the present or to events that are very difficult to be become real facts in the present. A Present Unreal situation expresses contrary to fact situations, which mean that opposite ideas are expressed.

Subject / Pronoun + Past tense verb + Complement   +   Subject / Pronoun + Modal + Base form Verb + Compl.

                                                                                                                  could, would, might

*If you use the verb to-be in the if clause "were" will be use with all the pronouns. "Was" is possible only in informal English.

• If I had money, I would buy a new pair of shoes. (I have no money so I will not buy a new pair of shoes)

• If Sam lived lived near us, he could come to the party. (Sam lives far away so he can come)

• If Joan spoke Spanish, she might get a better job. (Joan does not speak Spanish so she can't get a better job)

• If I were you, I would accept the job position. (I am not you so I will not accept the job)

• If Susan were here, she might help us. (Susan is not here so she may not help us)

Remember that we can reverse the word order. We can start with the result ant then have the condition or if clause. Only the comma is ommited.

• I would buy a new pair of shoes if I had money.

• Susan might help us if she were here.

• Joan might get a better job if she spoke Spanish.

The Past Unreal or Third Conditional

We use this conditional in order to refer to hypothetical situations in the past. We refer to outcomes that we wish have never taken place but they did take place.

Subj. / Pron. + Had + Participle + Complement  +  Subj. / Pron. + Modal + Have + Participle + Compl.

                                                                                   could, would, might, should

• If I had known you three years ago, I would have married you.

• If George had studied more, he could have passed the test.

• If we hadn't stopped for gas, we might have been involved in the car accident.

• If I had accepted that job offer, I might not have had this economical problems.

*Notice that in all the sentences above we are expressing an opposite idea from what is actually written.

• If George had studied more, he could have passed the test. (he didn't study for the exam. He failed the test)