Conditional

Sentences
by JFBS
Conditional Types

First Type: Possible & Probable conditions

Second Type: Possible & Improbable conditions

Third Type: Impossible conditions

Other Conditional sentences

Wish / If only
First Type: Possible & Probable conditions

IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

Simple Future
Simple Present
Imperative
Can
If you come I will be happy
If you want to pass Study!
If we buy a ticket We ___________ (go) to the
concert
If she ______________ (arrive) she will come with us
soon
If they dance too much They ____________ (get) tired

If you need my car ________________ (take) it

First Type: Possible & Probable conditions

IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

If you ________ (drink) a lot I ________ (leave) you

If the road________ (be) wet ________(watch out) !

If he________ (lose) his key You ________ (lend) him yours

If she ________ (not buy) any We ________ (have dinner)

food
If they ________ (not stop) We ________ (not finish) our
talking lesson
If you ________ (take) the dog I ________ (give) you some
for a walk money
Second Type: Possible & Improbable conditions
To express an imaginary present or improbable future
situations

IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

Simple Past Would + root verb

Could + root verb

If she studied she would pass her tests

If he ran he would catch the bus

If I went to China I could be with him

If I were _____________ _________________

Second Type: Possible & Improbable conditions

IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

If you ________ (drink) a lot I ________ (leave) you

If the road ________ (be) wet You________have) an accident

If he________ (lose) his key You________ (lend) him yours

If she ________ (not buy) any We ________.(have dinner)

food
If they ________ (not stop) We ________ (not finish) our
talking lesson
If you________ (take) the dog I ________ (give) you some
for a walk money
Third Type: Impossible conditions
To express a regret for an impossible situation happened
in the Past with NO solution
IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

Past Perfect Present Perfect Conditional

(Would have + past participle)

If it hadn't rained We would have gone to the

country
If she had studied She __________ (pass) her
tests
If you __________ (invite) They 'd have come to the party
them
If I had known it I ___________(arrive) earlier

If he____________(phone) I 'd have seen him

Third Type: Impossible conditions

IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

If you ________ (drink) a lot I ________ (leave) you

If the road ________ (be) wet You ________(have) an accident

If he ________ (lose) his key You ________ (lend) him yours

If she ________ (not buy) any We________(have dinner)

food
If they ________ (not stop) We ________ (not finish) our
talking lesson
If you________ (take) the dog I ________ (give) you some
for a walk money
Other expressions used in conditional
clauses:
UNLESS You won't finish the race unless you pace yourself.
" Si no…"
"A menos que..."
WHETHER…OR NOT Whether you pay or not, you won't get in without an
"Tanto….como si no " invitation.
ON CONDITION THAT "I will only tell my age on the condition that you tell
PROVIDED THAT yours."
PROVIDING THAT “I will only tell my age provided that you tell yours”
SO LONG AS “I will only tell my age providing that you tell yours”
AS LONG AS “I will only tell my age so long as you tell yours”
"Siempre que, en tanto “I will only tell my age as long as you tell yours”
que, con la condición de
que,...etc
ASSUMING THAT "Assuming that it's fine tomorrow, we'll go for a
SUPPOSING THAT swim"
SUPPOSE THAT "What would you do supposing that you were given
"Suponiendo que.." the chance to see the future ?"
 Other time clauses
Time clauses with before, unless, when, while, as soon as, as long as,
provided that
After when, as soon as, before, while, unless, as long as and provided that we
use the present tense (not will).

•I’ll stay with Jake when I go to London next week.

• As soon as I get my exam results, I’m going on holiday.
• Before I go out tonight, I have to finish this essay.
• While I’m away, Penny’s going to look after my dog.
• I won’t be able to buy a car unless I find a job soon.
• I’ll come with you as long as I don't have to drive.
• You’ll pass your exam provided that you do enough revision.
 WISH / IF ONLY CLAUSES
Wish and if only can be used with would and past tenses. These structures express
regrets, and wishes for unlikely or impossible things.
If only is more emphatic. (Traducción: Ójala, Desearía)

1. Past tenses are used to talk about the present.

I wish I was better looking I wish I spoke French
Don’t you wish you could fly? If only I knew more people!
Were can be used instead of was, especially in a formal style.
He wishes he were better looking.

2. We use a past perfect tense to express regrets about the past

I wish you hadn’t said that.
Now she wishes she had gone to university.
If only she hadn’t told the police, everything would be all right .

3. We use would or could...

1. to talk about future things which aren’t very probable.
I wish / If only I could go to the party.
2. to talk about future things that we would like people (not) to do.
The subject of wish and the main verb is different. So here we
only use would. This often expresses dissatisfaction or annoyance:
It can sound critical.
I wish you would go home. If only the postman would come!
We can use this structure to talk about things as well as people.
I wish this damned car would start. If only it would stop raining!
 Sample rephrasing

First Conditional:
- Be careful – someone’s going to see you!
- If you are careful, nobody will see you!
- If + Subject + present simple, subject + future will (aff or neg)

Second Conditional:

-Kathy wants to go to the movies but doesn't have any money

-If Kathy had some money, she would go to the movies.
-If + Subject + past simple (neg or aff), subject + would /could/might + infinitive + complements

Third Conditional:
-Tom was not going to come to dinner the next day because you insulted him.
-If you hadn’t insulted him, Tom would have come to dinner.
- If + Subject + past perfect (neg or aff), subject + would/ could/might + have + pp + C

Wish / If only
I’m sorry, but I can’t help you now.
I wish I could help you.
I would have gone to the concert, but I didn’t have a ticket.
I wish I had had a ticket. / I had bought a ticket
 Other examples
- His book will be published provided he takes his manuscript to the editor.
Unless he takes his manuscript to the editor, his book won’t be published.
Unles + present simple, future simple (aff or neg)

-I didn't have an umbrella with me and so I got wet.

I wouldn't have got wet, if I had had an umbrella with me.

-We don't go to school when it rains

If it rains, we don’t go to school.

-I didn't move the table because Jack didn't help me.

If Jack had helped me, I would have moved the table.

- You drink too much coffee, that's why you don't sleep well.

If you didn’t drink too much coffee, you would sleep well.

-You never talk to me, so you don't know anything about me.

If you talked to me, you would know something about me.

THE END
By JFBS