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The Conditional TensesBy Joseph McTaggart
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Introduction
Conditional Tenses are not actually so complicated in English, but likeeverything else, when they are written down or reduced to paper, they lookimmensely difficult. In the future, when you meet an English man, you couldask him to tell you about the 5 Conditional Tenses. You might find that hecannot say what they are. In fact he might not even know what you mean!English people use Grammar by demonstration rather than by applying learntphrases. Believe it or not, many English people did not learn EnglishGrammar at school.
Grammar needs to be demonstrated rather than learnt. I would thereforerecommend you practice using these tenses with a friend as soon as you can.Its important to know how to use them. They are only classified into 5 partsto enable them to be described, this does not mean you have to learn them inthat way. The best way is always by speaking and practising. You can usethis book as a guide.
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The Five Conditionals
In general there are 5 different types of conditional tenses. The first thingyou need to remember is that these tenses are only used to talk about thingswhich have not happened in reality. They are never talking about real things,they talk about suppositions, possibilities and hypothesis. It is important toremember this because sometimes these situations do look real. But in thecase of real events happening, we use real tenses to describe them. This isvery important because you need to know how to talk about possibility ratherthan reality and sometimes its very easy to be confused between the two.Especially when the word “when” is used to form the Conditional tenses.
Conditional Tenses are usually formed with the word “if” and sometimeswith the word “when”.
“If I go to my friends house, I will call you”
“When I go on holiday in April, I will take my dog”
Both are unreal (and are type 1 conditionals described below) but “when”is talking about a definite idea (which is still unreal) in the future. As it isassociated with the future tense we sometimes refer to this as the “futureconditional”. Actually many different people call the conditional tensesdifferent names, to try and associate them with the tense they represent, all ofthe conditionals are explained later in this booklet.
Sometimes the real and unreal seem to overlap. As you will see below wesometimes talk about:
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“if I was…..”
and
“if I had been…..”
Sometimes people ask me the difference between the two, Well its verysimple, neither are real but we still can choose to describe the unreal in eitherthe past tense or past perfect and the same rules for these tenses apply as ifthe situation was real. However in the conditional world we call these “Type2 conditionals” and “Type 3 conditionals” so we can classify them in EnglishGrammar.
Example:
“If I spoke Russian…. I would live in Russia”
“If I had learnt Russian…. I would have lived in Russia”
Both have the same meaning more or less, but two different tenses areused to describe the difference in (unreal) time as we do in the perfect andpast tenses. Both examples are unreal, because I don´t speak Russian and Inever did learn it.
Here are the conditional tenses with examples:
Zero Conditional:
It is formed using the present tense in both parts of the sentence:
The Zero conditional refers to conditional sentences that express a simplegeneral idea which is always true.
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“If you don't eat for a long time, you become hungry”.
“If I heat water, it boils”
“If it rains, the ground gets wet”
These are not usually personal sentences but they can be if its somethingwhich is always true:
“If I cook, people die”
“If I sing people cry”
The zero form of the conditional expresses the idea that a universallyknown fact is being described:
“If you touch a flame, you burn yourself”
“If John phones, tell him to meet me at the car park”
“Ask Janet if you’re not sure how to get there”
“If you want to come, call me before I leave”
“Meet me here if we get separated”
First Conditional
It is formed using the present tense in the first part of the sentence and thefuture tense in the second part
“If you make a mistake, someone will let you know”.
“If I oversleep I will miss the train”
“If it rains today, the grass will get wet”
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This tense is the most common of the conditionals in English andexpresses the likelihood of what will almost certainly without doubt happen ifthe the first part of the clause happens.
You can also apply modal verbs to talk about what might happen
“If you drop that bottle, it might smash”.
“I may finish that essay if I have time”.
“If she calls you, you should definitely go”.
“If you buy my clothes for me, I will be able to go to the party”.
Second Conditional
This is formed using the past simple in the first part of the sentence andthe present conditional or present continuous conditional (would)
The "Second conditional" refers to the pattern where the condition clause(the first clause) is in the past tense, and the consequence is in the conditional( using would).
“If I liked parties, I would attend more of them”.
“If it were to rain tomorrow, the grass would be very wet”.(we sometimes use “were” instead of was )
“If the weather wasn't so bad, we would go to the carnival”. (But theweather is bad so we can't go.)
“If I was the Emperor, I would give everyone a new car”. (But I am notthe Emperor.)
“If you really loved me, you would buy me a dog”.
Third Conditional
perfect conditional or perfect continuous conditional
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This is used to refer to hypothetical, counterfactual (or believed likely tobe counterfactual) situations in the past, in type 3 conditional sentences the ifclause uses the past perfect, and the main clause uses the perfect conditional.
“If you had called me, I would have come”.“If you had eaten more, you would have gotten stomach ache”.“You would have earned more money, if you had worked harder”.In type 3 conditional sentences, you can also use modals in the main
clause instead of "would" to express the degree of certainty, permission, or arecommendation about the outcome.
EXAMPLES
“If I had worked harder I might have passed the exam”
“You could have been on time if you had caught the bus”
“If he called you, you could go”
“If you bought my school supplies for me, I might be able to go to thepark”
Mixed Conditionals
“The "Mixed conditional" usually refers to a mixture of the second andthird conditionals with the part of one and a part of the other.
If + past perfect or simple past and,present conditional or perfect conditional
The mixed type conditional is used to refer to an unreal past conditionand its probable result in the present. In mixed type conditional sentences, the“if” clause uses the past perfect, and the main clause uses the presentconditional.
“if I had worked harder at university, I would have a better job now”“I would have a better job now if I had worked harder at school”.“If we had looked at the map we wouldn't be lost”“We wouldn't be lost if we had looked at the map”
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“If you had caught that plane you would be dead now”“You would be dead now if you had caught that plane”
Here either the condition or the consequence, but not both, has a past timereference:
“If you had done it properly, we wouldn't be in this mess now”
“If we were doing that job, we wouldn't have done it like that”
In these mixed conditional sentences, you can also use modals in the mainclause instead to express the degree of certainty, permission, or arecommendation about the outcome.
“if you had crashed the bus, you might be in trouble”“I could be a millionaire now if I had invested in that company”“If I had learned to ski, I might be on the slopes right now”
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Not Everything is a Conditional
One very important point to make here is that not everything is aconditional sentence just because it begins with “if”.
Remember a sentence is only a conditional if it has one part depending inthe other.
If I go to the shops I will buy bread
(condition – I will only buy bread IF I go to the shops).
If John comes and we go to the cinema, then maybe Jill would like tocome as well.
In this case, there is no real condition, we are talking only about thefuture and what will progressively happen.
Conditional Examples Without “If”
If I had known his name, I wouldn’t have called him Peter.
We can express the same idea without if.
Had I known his real name, I wouldn’t have called him Peter.
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Another example is given below.
If I had realized the importance of the Internet, I would not havewasted my time with television.
The above sentence can also be written as:
Had I realized the importance of the Internet, I would not havewasted my time with television.
If problems come up , I will walk away.
The same idea can be expressed without if.
Should problems arise, I will walk away.
Conditional sentences can also be made with unless.
Unless you work hard, you will not get that promotion . (= If youdo not work hard, you will not get that promotion.)
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Notes:
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Examples
If you ride a horse, it is dangerous - Zero
If she studies, she will pass the exam - First
If you take a shower, you will feel clean - First
If you eat too much, you will gain weight - First
If I didn’t have to work, I could go to the park – Second
If I went to the party, I would eat a lot - Second
If he had heard me, it wouldn’t have happened - Third
If I had travelled, I would have bought a gift for you - Third
If we had closed the door, they wouldn’t run away - Mixed
If you had woken up early, you would be arriving on time at work –Mixed.
Question: Are all of the above examples correct?
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Essay
I often wonder what would have became of myself if I did not join thearmy. I have no regrets about joining, perhaps If I had not joined I wouldhave entered the industry of my father and his friends.
The army gave me some wonderful skills which I can still use today. If Ihad not learned these skills in the army, I do not know where I would havelearned them.
My Mother always said that if I had not joined the army then I wouldmost likely have became an airline pilot. I do not agree because I am colourblind and have neither the desire not skills. Actually I am terrified of flyingbecause of the holidays she kept taking me when I was a child. If I hadwanted to be a pilot I would have joined the RAF.
On the other hand, If I had not joined the army, maybe I would bemarried now, maybe I would have had children.
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Exercises
In the following pages, I want you to try and write examples of theconditionals, you can use the space below on this page to take any notes thatyou want.
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NOTES
Write 10 examples of the Zero Conditional
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Write 10 Examples of the First Conditional
Write 10 Examples of the Second Conditional
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Write 10 Examples of the Third Conditional
Write 10 Examples of the Mixed Conditional
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Write 10 Examples of the Conditionals using MODAL VERBS
THE END
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