Conditionals

If...

A Conditional is a kind of sentence which uses a word such as if. It talks about situations which are not real.

There are 3 main types of conditional sentences.

First Conditional

We use the first conditional to talk about possible situations in the future. These could easily happen.

To make the first conditional we use two clauses. The if-clause is in the present tense, the conditional clause uses will and the infinitive:

There are two clauses: the if-clause can come first or second. When it comes first, we usually put a comma between the two but it's not neccessary if the if-clause comes last:

Second Conditional

We use the second conditional to talk about possible but unlikely situations in the future and whether they will happen or not, or we can use it to describe imaginary present situations:

To make the second conditional we use two clauses. The if-clause is in the past the conditional clause uses would and the infinitive:

There are two clauses: the if-clause can come first or second. When it comes first, we usually put a comma between the two but it's not neccessary if the if-clause comes last:

Note: We use I were instead of I was because we are actually using the subjunctive; many people nowadays, however, say if I was.

Third Conditional

We use the third conditional to talk about situations in the past which cannot be changed; we talk about how the results might be different:

To make the third conditional we use two clauses. The if-clause is in the past perfect tense and the conditional clause uses would have and the past participle:

There are two clauses: the if-clause can come first or second. When it comes first, we usually put a comma between the two but it's not neccessary if the if-clause comes last:

See Also

First Conditional or Second Conditional

Conditional Clauses

Conditonal Activities - some useful activities to practice conditional constructions.