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CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

IF -CLAUSE ( condition)

MAIN CLAUSE ( result )

  1. If I study everyday . . .
  2. If you don’t go out at weekends . . .
  3. If your parents see you smoking . . .
  4. If I didn’t have my mobile phone . . .
  5. If I had five thousand euros in my bank account . . .
  6. If I could travel somewhere . . .
  7. If I had more free time this year . . .
  8. If I had failed my last English test . . .
  9. If I had overslept this morning . . .
  10. Unless you pass all your subjects in June . ..

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CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

IF -CLAUSE ( condition)

MAIN CLAUSE ( result )

ZERO CONDITIONAL If I drink coffee at night, . . . I don’t sleep well.

(for present, real /

factual situations)

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FIRST CONDITIONAL

(for future, real / If I drink coffee tonight, . . . I won’t sleep well.

factual situations)

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SECOND CONDITIONAL If I drank coffee tonight, . . . I wouldn’t sleep well.

(for future or present unreal

/ imaginary situations)

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THIRD CONDITIONAL If I had drunk coffee last night, . . . I wouldn’t have slept well.

(for past unreal / imaginary

situations)

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PRESENT SIMPLE

PRESENT SIMPLE

PRESENT SIMPLE

WILL FUTURE

PAST SIMPLE

CONDITIONAL SIMPLE

PAST PERFECT

CONDITIONAL PERFECT

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CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

  • When we use the if-clause after the main clause, we don’t use a comma:

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‘I won’t pass my exam next Monday if I don’t study hard.’

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  • We can also use could or might for 2nd and 3rd conditionals, and it implies that the hypothesis is less probable:

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If they invited me to the party, I would / could/ might go.

If they had invited me to the party, I would / could / might have gone.

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  • In the 1st conditional, we can also use modals and imperatives in the main or result clause:

If they open a factory here, they may pollute the river.

If we don’t prevent global warming, we can damage the environment.

If you live in a city, use public transport.

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CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

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  • We can also use UNLESS ( a menos que, si no, a no ser que) = If don’t

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- Unless you stop eating, you’ll be sick. ( = If you don’t stop . . .)

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- Unless he was very ill, he would be at work. ( = If he wasn’t . . .)

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* It is very common in zero conditionals, 1st and 2nd, but it is very unusual in 3rd conditionals