CONDITIONALS & WISH CLAUSES

by BETÜL YETİM

ZERO CONDITIONAL

• If + present simple, present simple• True fact in the present or the future

Examples:• If you heat water to 100° C, it boils.

• If she gets embarrassed, she blushes.

FIRST CONDITIONAL

• If + present simple, future simple present conti., future conti.

present perfect, future perfect present modals, future perfect conti. imperative

present modal verbs

• Likely to happen in the present or future

Examples:

• If I have enough money, I will go on holiday.

• If you want to speak to me, I’ll be studying in the library.

• If I am not given any extra work, I will have finished writing this report by tomorrow.

• If it doesn’t stop by the evening, it will have been raining for two weeks straight.

• If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask me.

• If we have to be at the airport at 9, we had better leave now. (modal + modal)

• If you don’t want to put on weight, you should stop eating fast food. (pre. sim. + modal)

• Normally we don’t use “will” after if, but when you are making a polite request you can say: If you’ll wait here a moment, I’ll show you to the manager’s office.

SECOND CONDITIONAL• If + past simple, would / could / might v1

• Imaginary situation, contrary to the fact in the present

Examples:• If Ahmet were two years older, he could get a

driver’s license.

• If there were a university at my hometown, I wouldn’t have to leave home and go to Istanbul.

• I might consider moving to a bigger flat if I could get a better job.

• If my husband were to come home early today, we might go out to dinner.

THIRD CONDITIONAL

• If + past perfect, would / could / might have v3

• Imaginary situation, contrary to the fact in the past

Examples:• If you had invited me to your party, I would

certainly have (certainly) come.

• If you had talked to your teacher, she might have given you a couple of more days to complete your project.

• If there had been live music at the wedding, we could have had more fun.

MIXED CONDITIONALS• If + past, present If I had won the lottery last week, I would be a rich man

now. (I didn’t win it and I am not rich.)

• If + past, futureIf Mark had gotten the job, he would be moving to Shanghai next month. (He didn’t get the job and he isn’t going to move to Shanghai.)

• If + present, pastIf Sam spoke Russian, he would have translated the letter for you. (He doesn’t speak Russian so he didn’t translate it.)

• If + future, pastIf we weren’t going away for the weekend, we would have accepted your dinner invitation.(We are going away and that’s why we didn’t accept your invitation.)

INVERSION in CONDITIONALS• TYPE 1

If you need help…. : Should you need help…. (Should + subj. + v1 + main clause)

Should you not be satisfied with our goods, please return them in a week to get a refund. (not comes after the subject)

• TYPE 2 If I were you….. : Were I you….(Were + subj. + obj. + main clause)

Were I you, I would not buy that second-hand car.

(Were + subj. + to infinitive + main clause)Were I to come to the office tomorrow, we could have a meeting.

• TYPE 3

If they had told us…. : Had they told us….(had + subj. + v3 + main clause)

Had I known you were studying, I would not have made so much noise.

IMPLIED CONDITIONALS• with / without + noun / noun phrase

You’re already a good musician. With some instruction, you can easily learn the saxophone.(If you take some classes, you can easily learn the saxophone.)

• butI could have answered all the questions, but we didn’t have enough time.

• but for + noun / noun phraseBut for the interruptions, the meeting would have finished earlier. (If it wasn’t for the… / Without the…)

• otherwise / or (else) + clauseYou tell him what color car you want, or (else) / otherwise he will choose a color that he likes.

• if so / if not (to avoid repetition)I’ll try to fix the TV tomorrow. If not, you’ll have to wait until next Friday.

Has Sezen Aksu’s latest album been released? If so, where can I find it?

OTHER WORDS USED in CONDITIONALS

• only if / provided / providing (that) / on condition that / as (so) long asOnly if he finishes high school, will he be able to attend university.

(when you use “only if” at the beginning of a sentence the other half of the sentence will be inverted.)

Your little sister can come to the concert with us only if / provided (that) / providing (that) / on condition that / as long as she behaves herself.

• unless (negative meaning but positive sentence)

Don’t use this entrance unless you have to.

3rd conditional excluded, “unless = if not”If she weren’t so fat, she would be an attractive girl. ✔Unless she were so fat, she would be an attractive girl. ✗

• even ifEven if he apologizes for crashing my car, I won’t forgive him.

• suppose (that) / supposing (that) / what ifSuppose (that) everyone owned a car, what would the traffic be like?

What if he cheated on you, would you still love him?

• whether or not (two or more choices)Whether I win or lose, I want to play a game of chess with the school champion.

My mother is going to buy a new laptop whether or not the prices come down.

• in caseTake some warm clothes with you in case the camping site is cold.

We left home early; in case we got stuck in traffic.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

I have an extra ticket if your sister wants to join us.

I have an extra ticket in case your sister wants to join us.

OTHER USES of IF (not conditions but situations)

• If you saw Jack yesterday, why didn’t you ask him to come and talk to me?

• If I was rude to you, please forgive me.

• If you are not going to do what I say, why did you ask me for advice?

• If the doctor has told you to take this medicine, you should take it.

WISHES ABOUT THE PRESENT• I wish / If only + past simple / past conti. / could + bare

infinitive• A wish about the present• A situation you want to be different

Example:I wish / If only this exercise weren’t so difficult.

I wish / If only we weren’t staying at a hotel.

I wish / If only I could come to the cinema with you.

WISHES ABOUT THE PAST• I wish / If only + past perfect sim. / conti.• I wish / If only + could have v3 • A wish about a past situation• You want to have been different (regret)

Example:I wish / If only I hadn’t been driving so fast.

I wish / If only you had told me you needed help.

I wish / If only I could have answered the questions.

WISHES ABOUT THE FUTURE• I wish / If only + would + bare infinitive• A wish for a future change• Unlikely to happen / wish to express dissatisfaction

Example:

I wish / If only David would change his mind.He wishes he could (not would) play the piano.

I wish / If only she wouldn’t talk so much.

I wish you would listen to me.