A study of zero, first, second and third conditional

1. Conditionals

2. Try to complete the following sentences
 We always have a great time if…
 Whenever Jay and Rose have a fight…
 As soon as I get home…

4. 1st conditional
 To talk about possible present or future situations and their
result.
 Structure:
[CLAUSE 1] + [CLAUSE 2]
If / unless + Any present tense + Any future tense
modal
imperative mood
 If we pass the exam, our parents will let us go on vacation.
 I will have finished my work tomorrow, unless my children take up all my time.
 NOTICE that unless (if + not) adds a negative meaning, so the verb used in the same
clause is in the affirmative form.

6. “If I could live my life all over…”
 How would you end this sentence?

7. 2nd conditional
 To talk about hypothetical or improbable situations in the present or future.
 Structure:
 If I were/was braver, I could watch more horror films.
 He might try to learn physics if only he weren’t so bad at maths.
CLAUSE 1
If + past tense (simple
or continuous)
CLAUSE 2
Would + infinitive
Could + infinitive
Might + infinitive

8. The Big Bang Theory and the second
conditional

9. What can
you see
in this
picture?

10. In what
way would
it be
different
today?

11. Challenge: Talk for
1 minute!
How our lives
would be without…

12. Let’s identify the
structure

13. 3rd conditional
 To talk about a hypothetical situation in the past.
 Structure:
 They could have stayed together, if they had been sincere to each other.
 If I had been saving money, now I wouldn’t have borrowed it from my parents.
CLAUSE 1
If + past perfect (simple or
continuous)
CLAUSE 2
Would have + past participle
Could have + past participle
Might have + past participle

14. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 The curry is a little tasteless. I should have
put more spices in it.
 If I __________ more spices in the curry,
it ______________ better. (put / taste)

15. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 The curry is a little tasteless. I should have
put more spices in it.
 If I had put more spices in the curry, it
would have tasted better. (put / taste)

16. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 We got web because you wouldn’t take the
bus. You wanted to talk.
 We __________ wet if we ______________
the bus. (not get / take)

17. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 We got web because you wouldn’t take the
bus. You wanted to talk.
 We wouldn’t have got wet if we’d taken
the bus. (not get / take)

18. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 Laura fell in love with Tom. She left Liam.
 Laura __________ Liam if she
______________ in love with Tom. (not
leave / not fall)

19. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 Laura fell in love with Tom. She left Liam.
 Laura wouldn’t have left Liam if she
hadn’t fell in love with Tom. (not leave /
not fall)

20. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 He used the stolen credit card at a hotel,
so the police found him.
 If he __________ the stolen credit card at
the hotel, the police ______________ him.
(not use / not find)

21. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 He used the stolen credit card at a hotel,
so the police found him.
 If he hadn’t used the stolen credit card at
the hotel, the police wouldn’t have found
him. (not use / not find)

22. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 We didn’t go on the London Eye because
the queue was too long.
 We __________ on the London Eye, if the
queue ______________ so long. (go / not
be)

23. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 We didn’t go on the London Eye because
the queue was too long.
 We’d have gone on the London Eye, if
the queue hadn’t been so long. (go / not
be)

24. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 I didn’t know you wanted to go to the
concert. I didn’t buy you a ticket.
 I __________ you a ticket if I
______________ that you wanted to go to
the concert. (buy / know)

25. Transform the sentences with the
correct form of the verbs in brackets
 I didn’t know you wanted to go to the
concert. I didn’t buy you a ticket.
 I would have bought you a ticket if I had
known that you wanted to go to the
concert. (buy / know)

27. Mixed conditionals
3 & 2
 The most common combination is when we have a type 3 conditional in the
if-clause (if + past perfect) followed by a type 2 conditional (would +
infinitive) in the main clause.
 With this combination we are contrasting an imagined or real event in the
past with the present result of that:
• If he'd taken the medication as prescribed, he wouldn't still be lying
sick in bed.
• If she'd taken reasonable precautions, she wouldn't be pregnant now.
• If he hadn't run after the car thief and suffered a heart attack, he'd
probably be alive today.
When we talk about mixed
conditionals, we are referring
to conditional sentences that
combine two different types
of conditional patterns.

28. Mixed conditionals:
2 & 3
 The other possibility is when we have a type 2 conditional in the if-
clause (if + past simple) followed by a type 3 conditional (would've +
past participle) in the main clause.
 With this combination, we are describing ongoing circumstances in
relation to a previous past event. Consider these examples:
• If you weren't such a poor dancer, you would've got a job in the
chorus line in that musical.
• If you weren't so blind to his faults, you would've realised that
he was out to swindle you.

30. Replacing if
o Unless
o Even if
o As/So long as
o Supposing
o Whether … or
o Providing
o Provided that
o Whoever; wherever; whenever
o No matter who / when / where
There are different options to if
that can be used in its place. Try
some of these.

32. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
2. Suppose you would win the lottery, what would
you do?

33. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
2. Suppose you would win the lottery, what would
you do?
Suppose you won the lottery, what would you do?

34. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• I’ve bought some food in case Marianne and John
came round for dinner.

35. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• I’ve bought some food in case Marianne and John
came round for dinner.
I’ve bought some food in case Marianne and John
came round for dinner.

36. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I had known you were coming to London, I
would pick you up at the airport.

37. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I had known you were coming to London, I
would pick you up at the airport.
If I had known you were coming to London, I would
picked you up at the airport.

38. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I told you I love you, what would you have said?

39. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• If I told you I love you, what would you have said?
If I told you I love you, what would you say?

40. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Unless Brian will instruct us otherwise, we will
close the shop at 7.

41. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Unless Brian will instruct us otherwise, we will
close the shop at 7.
Unless Brian instructs us otherwise, we will close
the shop at 7.

42. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Should he have rung, tell him I’ll meet him in the
library.

43. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Should he have rung, tell him I’ll meet him in the
library.
Should he ring, tell him I’ll meet him in the library.

44. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Had I known you’d been shopping, I would not go
myself.

45. Rewrite the sentences with mistakes so
they are correct.
• Had I known you’d been shopping, I would not go
myself.
Had I known you’d been shopping, I wouldn’t have
gone myself.

46. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
 Example:
I don’t have secretary, so I did all the typing myself.
If I had a secretary, I wouldn’t have done all the typing myself.

47. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He didn’t follow my advice; that’s why the work
isn’t finished yet.

48. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He didn’t follow my advice; that’s why the work
isn’t finished yet.
o If he’d followed my advice, the work would have
been finished by now.

49. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He can’t have been arguing with his boss all
morning; he looks far too relaxed!

50. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o He can’t have been arguing with his boss all
morning; he looks far too relaxed!
o If he’d been arguing with his boss, he wouldn’t
look so relaxed.

51. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o She doesn’t have the money, otherwise she would
have given me the loan.

52. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o She doesn’t have the money, otherwise she would
have given me the loan.
o If she had the money, she would have given me
the loan.

53. Rewrite the following using mixed
conditionals like in the example.
o I realise I wasn’t very polite to the boss, but I’m
planning to leave this job anyway.
o If I wasn’t planning to leave this job, I wouldn’t
have been rude to the boss.

54. Wishes
 To express a wish we can use wish and if only.
 If only has the same meaning as wish, only it is more emphatic/dramatic.
 With the subject pronoun I both forms were / was can be used in the if-
clause.

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56. Wishing different present situations
• To say that we would like something to be different about a present
situation, we use the past simple or the past continuous.
I wish I was/were 10 years old (but I’m not).
If only I were travelling with you and not alone! It would be much
more fun.

57. Wishing different past situations
• To express regret about something which happened or didn’t happen in
the past, we use the past perfect.
I wish I had saved more money during my twenties (but I didn’t).
If only I hadn’t been so harsh to her! We could still be friends. (but I
was)

58. Wishing for change
• To express:
– a polite imperative,
– and a desire for a situation or person’s behaviour to change
we use the structure subject + would + bare infinitive.
I wish you would stop spreading rumours.
If only it would be sunny on my birthday, we could go swimming!
Human, if only you
would feed me, I
could go and take
a nap.

59. Regrets
• What do people
consider to be mistakes
of their youth?

60. Regrets
• Imagine the main character in the
clip is 70 today and looking back at
his teenage years.
Use if only and wish

62. Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example
• You want to buy a new car, but you haven’t got any
money.
• I wish I had enough money (to buy a new car).

63. Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example
• You didn’t follow your friend’s sensible advice.
• I wish I’d followed my friend’s advice.

64. Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example
• You lost your lecture notes.
• I wish I hadn’t lost my lecture notes.

65. Write a wish for each of the following sentences, like
in the example
• You want to ask a friend to help you, but he’s out of the
country.
• I wish my friend wasn’t out of the country.