Conditionals

Conditionals have two parts: the if-clause and the result. There are 4 types of conditionals, from zero to third, and 2 mixed conditionals.

Zero Conditional

Pattern: If + Simple Present Tense, Simple Present Tense.

Usage: general truths, scientific facts, the condition produces the same result

Examples:

1. If you leave your beverage outside on a snowy day, it becomes an ice pop. (Note: Read Let's Go 6, 4th Edition, page 10, The First Ice Pop)

2. If you mix baking soda and vinegar, it bubbles up.

First Conditional

Pattern: If + Simple Present Tense, Simple Future Tense.

Usage: a high chance for a result to happen in the present or in the future

Examples:

1. If you don't hurry, you'll miss the bus.

2. If the weather is good, we'll go to the beach. If the weather is bad, we'll stay at home.

Second Conditional

Pattern: If + Simple Past Tense, Would + Verb

Usage: a low chance for the result to happen in the present or in the future

Examples:

1. If I won the lottery, I would start my own company. (Note: In a 6/42 ordinary lottery, your chance of winning from 1 ticket is 1 in 5,245,786.)

2. If I weren't so busy, I would do more paintings.

Note:

If [I, you, we, they, he, she, it] were... , would

We use 'were' for all subjects if we have to use a be-verb in the 2nd conditional.

Third Conditional

Pattern: If + Past Perfect Tense, Would Have + Past Participle

Usage: the action is finished and you're now imagining a different result if you had chosen the other option

Examples:

1. If we had had the right ingredients, I would have made Carbonara.

2. If we hadn't bought these snacks, we wouldn't have found out how good they were.

Note:

The use of double negative makes the sentence positive. Other ways of looking at the sentence above are:

• Because we bought these snacks, we found out how good they were.

• We bought these snacks so we found out how good they were.

Mixed 1 Conditional

Pattern: If + Past Perfect Tense, Would + Verb

Usage: the things we did in the past affects the present

Examples:

1. If you had attended the seminar, you would understand how to use the new program.

2. If she had been more careful about her diet, she wouldn't be sent to the hospital.

Note: meaning #2 is used for the sentence above

diet = /ˈdaɪət/ = [n] 1) a limited variety or amount of food that you eat for medical reasons or because you want to lose weight; 2) the food that you eat and drink regularly

Source: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries

Mixed 2 Conditional

Pattern: If + Simple Past Tense, Would Have + Past Participle

Usage: you're imagining an unreal result based on a present or continuing condition

Examples:

1. If he were serious with his studies, he would have gotten top marks in the test.

2. If she ate a heavy meal in the afternoon, she wouldn't have been so famished tonight.

Note:

famished = /ˈfæmɪʃt/ = [adj] very hungry

similar phrase: be starving (for something) / be starved = to feel very hungry

Source: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries