9-1 The First Conditional & Time Clauses

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ENGL120 - Unit 9

If it snows tonight, school will be cancelled tomorrow.

Real or Unreal?

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• In English, there are many ways of making sentences with the word “if.”
• It is very important to understand the difference between real possibilities, and sentences that express unreal or imaginary situations.

Real Possibilities

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Examples

• If it snows, school will be canceled.
• You should stay home if you’re sick.
• We’ll have a great time if you join us.

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Unreal or Imaginary Situations

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Examples

• You would understand if you spoke my language.
• I could help you if I had time.
• I would be sleepy if I didn’t drink coffee in the morning.

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First Conditional

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• The First Conditional is used to describe real possibilities.
• If + present simple, will + base form

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Examples

• If we have time, we'll stop in Seattle.
• If you don't understand, you'll have problems tomorrow.
• If she doesn't study, she won't make much improvement.
• If I do that, he will get angry.

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• When we begin our sentences with an "if clause," we use a comma to separate the two parts of the sentences. If we begin our sentences with a "result clause", we do not use a comma.

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Examples

• If you do that again, I’ll take away your toys!
• If I don’t eat soon, I’ll be angry.
• She’ll laugh if you tell her the joke.
• We won’t study that if you don’t want to.

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Time Clauses

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• Conditions of time use the same form as First Conditional sentences. In time clause sentences, instead of "if," we use time expressions like "when," "as soon as," "until," "before," and "after."

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• Like First Conditional sentences, we use Present Simple with these words. The other clause in the sentence uses "will."

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Examples

• I will eat breakfast before I take a shower.
• Until you apologize, I will not speak to you.
• When I go to the game, I’ll buy a hot dog.

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• Notice that we use a comma when we start the sentence with time expressions.