Conditional: Tenses and Use

Thursday, 23^rd March 2017

Lingua e traduzione inglese I

(Monolingue)

From: http://languagelearningbase.com/344/conditionals

0 Conditional

PATTERN: [If + present simple or continuous] + [present]

EXPLANATION: We use 0 conditional, when something is always or generally true: a (scientific) fact.

If you boil water, it evaporates.
My son doesn’t go out, if he doesn’t study.

NB: You can substitute if with whether.

1^st Conditional

PATTERN: [If + present simple] + [will/might]

EXPLANATION: We use 1^st conditional for likely or probable situations.

If tomorrow is a sunny day, I will take a walk in the park.

NB: When you use a conditional of any kind, you can move the order of the clauses, BUT not the tense.

I will take a walk in the park, if tomorrow is a sunny day. OK!
If tomorrow will be a sunny day, I take a walk in the park. NO!

2^nd Conditional

PATTERN: [If + past simple or continuous] + [would/might + base form]

EXPLANATION: We use the 2^nd conditional for unreal and unlikely situations in present.

If I received a sudden windfall, I would quick working and travel around the world.

NB: In the if-clause of 2^nd conditional, you can use both the past simple form of to be, that is to say both was and were.

If I were you, I’d look for a new place to live. (UK)
If I was you, I’d look for a new place to live. (US)

However the former is more preferable and ‘sophisticated’ than the latter.

3^rd Conditional

PATTERN: [if + past perfect] + [would have + past participle]

EXPLANATION: We use the 3^rd conditional for past situations (including regrets):

If you had come to the party, you would have had a great time.

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