Conditionals

Present Real Conditional

The Present Real Conditional is used to talk about what you normally do in real-life situations.

Present Unreal Conditional

The Present Unreal Conditional is used to talk about what you would generally do in imaginary situations.

Present Real Conditional

The Present Real Conditional is used to talk about what you normally do in real-life situations.

Examples:

·       If I go to a friend's house for dinner, I usually take a bottle of wine or some flowers.

·       When I have a day off from work, I often go to the beach.

·       If the weather is nice, she walks to work.

·       Jerry helps me with my homework when he has time.

·       I read if there is nothing on TV.

·       A: What do you do when it rains?
B: I stay at home.

·       A: Where do you stay if you go to Sydney?
B: I stay with my friends near the harbor.

 

Structure

 

If          +          Present Simple….,+…Present Simple

 

Present Unreal Conditional

The Present Unreal Conditional is used to talk about what you would generally do in imaginary situations.

Examples:

·       If I owned a car, I would drive to work. But I don't own a car.

·       She would travel around the world if she had more money. But she doesn't have much money.

·       I would read more if I didn't watch so much TV.

·       Mary would move to Japan if she spoke Japanese.

·       If they worked harder, they would earn more money.

·       A: What would you do if you won the lottery?
B: I would buy a house.

·       A: Where would you live if you moved to the U.S.?
B: I would live in Seattle.

 

Structure

If          +          Past Simple….,  +    …Would            +   Verb

EXCEPTION If I were ...

In the Present Unreal Conditional, the form "was" is not considered grammatically correct. In written English or in testing situations, you should always use "were." However, in everyday conversation, "was" is often used.

Examples:

·       If he were French, he would live in Paris.

·       If she were rich, she would buy a yacht.

·       I would play basketball if I were taller.

·       I would buy that computer if it were cheaper.

·       I would buy that computer if it was cheaper. Not Correct (But often said in conversation.)

IMPORTANT Only use "If"

Only the word "if" is used with the Present Unreal Conditional because you are discussing imaginary situations. "When" cannot be used.

Examples:

·       I would buy that computer when it were cheaper. Not Correct

·       I would buy that computer if it were cheaper. Correct

EXCEPTION Conditional with Modal Verbs

There are some special conditional forms for modal verbs in English:

would + can = could

would + shall = should

would + may = might

The words "can," "shall" and "may" cannot be used with "would." Instead, they must be used in these special forms.

Examples:

·       If I went to Egypt, I would can learn Arabic. Not Correct

·       If I went to Egypt, I could learn Arabic. Correct

·       If she had time, she would may go to the party. Not Correct

·       If she had time, she might go to the party. Correct

The words "could," should," "might" and "ought to" include conditional, so you cannot combine them with "would."

Examples:

·       If I had more time, I would could exercise after work. Not Correct

·       If I had more time, I could exercise after work. Correct

·       If he invited you, you really would should go. Not Correct

·       If he invited you, you really should go. Correct

 

Past Conditionals

Past Real Conditional

The Past Real Conditional describes what you used to do in particular real-life situations. It suggests that your habits have changed and you do not usually do these things today.

Examples:

·       If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I usually took a bottle of wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore.

·       When I had a day off from work, I often went to the beach. Now, I never get time off.

·       If the weather was nice, she often walked to work. Now, she usually drives.

·       Jerry always helped me with my homework when he had time. But he doesn't do that anymore.

·       A: What did you usually do when it rained?
B: I usually stayed at home.

 

Form

 

            If          +          Past Simple…,          +          …Past Simple

IMPORTANT Used to

The form "used to" expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. This form is commonly used in Past Real Conditional sentences to emphasize that something was a habit. The examples below have the same meaning as the examples above.

Examples:

·       If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I used to take a bottle of wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore.

·       When I had a day off from work, I used to go to the beach. Now, I never get time off.

·       If the weather was nice, she used to walk to work. Now, she usually drives.

·       Jerry used to help me with my homework when he had time. But he doesn't do that anymore.

·       A: What did you usually do when it rained?
B: I used to stay at home.

 

 

 

Form

 

            If          +          Past Simple…,          +          …Used to  +  Infinitive

IMPORTANT If / When

Both "if" and "when" are used in the Past Real Conditional. Using "if" suggests that something happened less frequently. Using "when" suggests that something happened regularly.

Examples:

·       When I had a day off from work, I usually went to the beach.
I regularly had days off from work.

·       If I had a day off from work, I usually went to the beach.
I rarely had days off from work.

Past Unreal Conditional

The Past Unreal Conditional is used to talk about imaginary situations in the past. You can describe what you would have done differently or how something could have happened differently if circumstances had been different.

Examples:

·       If I had owned a car, I would have driven to work. But I didn't own one, so I took the bus.

·       She would have traveled around the world if she had had more money. But she didn't have much money, so she never traveled.

·       I would have read more as a child if I hadn't watched so much TV. Unfortunately, I did watch a lot of TV, so I never read for entertainment.

·       Mary would have gotten the job and moved to Japan if she had studied Japanese in school instead of French.

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