Level 6

Unit: 7B

SECOND CONDITIONAL
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 1ST AND 2ND
CONDITIONAL

SECOND CONDITIONAL USAGE AND STRUCTURE

1ST Conditional 2ND Conditional

Second if + simple past, would / wouldn’t + base form
Real Imaginary
· We use second conditional to talk about a hypothetical
If you eat healthy If you were born / imaginary present or future situation and its
food and you work in krypton, you consequence.
out you will be in shape. would have
If I had a job…( I don’t have a job – I’m imagining it.)
super powers
1. We use the simple past after if, and would /
wouldn’t + base form
in the other clause.

· We can also use could instead of would in the other

clause.
2.After if we can use was or were with I, he, and she.
3. We often use second conditionals beginning If I
Before After
were you, I’d… to give advice. Here we don’t usually
use If I was you…
Real Change
 EXAMPLES

1. If I had a job, I’d get my own vehicle.

2. If Margarito spoke good English, he could get a job in that new hotel.
3. I would get along better with my parents if I didn’t live with them.
4. I wouldn’t do that type of job unless they paid me a really good salary.

1. If your sister were here, she’d know what to do.

2. If it was colder, we could go ice skating.
3. If I were you, I’d buy a new computer.
 Second Conditional
Read these comments of people thinking of the
possibility of moving out from their houses:
Vanessa @ Sao Paulo, Brazil.

If I had the money, I would Bryan @ Hudson, Ohio. Bethany @ Montgomery,

move out immediately. All I
want is somewhere that is my
own, where I can do what I
want, where I can have my own
furniture and pictures, where
no one can tell me what to do.
If it were my place, I’d be happy
to do the cleaning and things
like that. I would take care of it.
But right now, it’s just a dream,
because I can’t find a job.
I’m perfectly happy living at home.
If I lived on my own, I’d have to pay
rent, do the housework, and
cooking. Here my mother does my
laundry, she cleans my room, and of
course she cooks, and her food is
wonderful. I have a nice room. I
have a TV and an Xbox. Why would I
want to leave? Even if I could afford
it, I wouldn’t move out. Not until I
get married.
Alabama.
It isn’t that my parents aren’t good
to me - they are. If they weren’t, I
wouldn’t live with them. I just
don’t feel independent. I’m 34, but
I sometimes worry that if I come
back late after a night out, I’ll find
them still awake waiting up for
me. It’s never happened, but it still
makes me want to move out.
 PRACTICE

First or second conditional? Complete the sentence with the correct form of the verb.

I’ll stay with my cousin if I have to go to Newark for my job interview. (stay)

I’d buy my own apartment if I had enough money. (have)

1. My parents ___ earlier if they didn’t go to bed so late. (get up)

2. Where ___ you ___ if you go to Harvard? (live)
3. If you make lunch, I ___ the dishes. (do)
4. If you ___ your job, how will you earn money? (lose)
5. We wouldn’t have a cat if we ____ a yard. (not have)
6. How will you get to work if you ____ your motorcycle? (sell)
7. If we sit in the shade, we ___ sunburned. (not get)
8. If you could change one thing in your life, what ___ it ___? (be)
9. She won’t be able to pay her mortgage if she ____ a job soon. (not find)
10. If he had a job, he ___ not be so broke all the time. (be)
 PRACTICE

Put the verbs in brackets into the gaps.

Form a Conditional sentence – type II: Mind the position of the if – clause.

1. If I [ ] (to meet) James, I [ ] (to tell) him about our new location.

2. If the salmon [ ] (not / to be) so hot, we [ ] (to eat) it.

3. What [ ] (you/ to do) if it [ ] (to rain)?

4. She [ ] (to help) me if she [ ] (can).

5. If Peter [ ] (to prepare) dinner, I [ ] (not / come) for dinner.

6. My mother [ ] (not / to be) upset with me if I [ ] ( to come) home early.

7. We [ ] (not / to have) a pet we [ ] (to live) in a condominium.

8. If she [ ] (can / to speak) French, he [ ] (to get) the job in Haiti.