FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD CONDITIONAL

How we put conditional clauses and main clauses together: (e.g. zero conditional)

Conditional clause Main clause

If I take the job, I go to London.

Main clause Conditional clause

I go to London if I take the job.

How the zero, first, second, and third conditional formations can be recognised:

0. Zero conditional: If I take the job, I go to London.

1. First conditional: If I take the job, I will go to London.

2. Second conditional: If I took the job now, I would be in London. Mixed Conditional

3. Third conditional: If I had taken the job, I would have been in London.

Conditional clause Main clause

0. If + Present Simple + Present Simple (or Imperative)

General Use: Situations that are frequently/always true.

If it rains (if + present simple), I take my umbrella with me (present simple).

If you find John, call me immediately (If + imperative).

1. If + Present Simple + Will (Can/May/Might/Should, etc.,) + Infinitive

General Use: A likely situation (a situation which may happen) and a possible result.

If you do the shopping with me (if + present simple), I will buy you an ice cream (will + infinitive).

If you tell him the truth (if + present simple), it will hurt him a lot (will + infinitive).

2. If + Past Simple + Would (Could/Might/Should) + Infinitive

General Use: To talk about hypothetical situations in the present or future. (Stating preferences, Supposing, Unusual circumstances)

If someone dropped money on the floor (if + past simple), I would buy you an ice cream (would + infinitive).

If I had the opportunity to steal (if + present simple), I couldnt do it (could + infinitive).

3. If + Past Perfect Simple + Would (Could/Might) + Have + Past Participle

General Use: To talk about real situations in the past.

To talk about alternative possibilities in the past/past for the future.

If I had watched the dinner cooking (if + past perfect), it would not have burnt (would + have + past participle).

If you had left work early this morning (if + past perfect), we could have gone to the zoo (could + have + past participle).

Important note: - We do not normally use will or would in the conditional clause, only in the main clause.
 USES OF THE CONDITIONALS:

ZERO CONDITIONAL

Situation: Open condition, what is said in the condition is frequently/always true at the moment
of speaking.
Time: Present or future; This condition refers to true situations either in the present or future.
E.g.: If the shop opens early, we buy the material before we leave.
If someone tells me a secret, I never tell anyone else.

FIRST CONDITIONAL

Situation: Open condition, what is said in the condition is possible/likely to happen.

Time: Present or future; This condition refers to possible actions either in the present or future.
E.g.: If I arrive late, you might have to leave without me.
If my sister finds out, I am in deep trouble.

SECOND CONDITIONAL

Situation: Unreal (impossible)/improbable situations/hypothetical situation in the present or future.

The implication is that the condition(s) will not be met.
Time: Present; the tense we use is past, but we are hypothesizing in a present or future situation.
E.g.: If I knew her number, I would tell you.
If I were in your shoes, I would go to the police.

Compare:
If I become elected, I will cut income taxes. (Statement by a local candidate to the press.)
If I became president, I would cut income taxes. (Delusion of a TV viewer: Improbable)
If I win this game, I am qualified through to the final.
If I won a million pounds, I would stop teaching. (Improbable)

THIRD CONDITIONAL

Situation: Unreal situation in the past / Alternative situations in the past.

Time: Past (indicating one is talking about a situation that was never so in the past.)
E.g.: If you had tipped me off beforehand, I wouldnt have said anything (you didn't, and I said it).

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR STUDENTS:

We use conditionals to makes promises or threats, to warn or persuade, or to makes excuses.
E.g.: If you dont go to bed early, you will miss the bus in the morning.

The conditional construction does not normally use will or would in if-clauses.
EXCEPTION: If will or would express willingness, as in requests, they can be used in if-clauses.
E.g.: If you will come this way, the hotel manager will see you now.
(Is like saying: Please, come this way; Please, help me...)
I would be most grateful if you would help me with this project.

For the second conditional (subjunctive form), were replaces was:

E.g.: If I were a wealthy man...

After if, we can use either "some(-one, -where...)" or "any(-one, -where...):

E.g.: If I have some free time next month.... or:
If I have any spare morning next week...

We can use unless in place of if not:

E.g.: I'll have it there to you tomorrow morning unless there is a delay.
He'll resign from the government unless you promise to make tax reductions.

There is a "mixed type conditional" as well, for the present results of an unreal condition in the past:
E.g.: If + Past Perfect, + would + infinitive.
If you had told me earlier (then/past), I would not be in this predicament (now/present).
 CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

A. ZERO CONDITIONAL
IF + DOES, DOES
If + present simple tense, present simple tense
1. IF IS USED TO STATE GENERAL RULES.
If we heat water enough, it begins to boil.
In statements like this, if means the same as when or every time.

B. THE 1st CONDITIONAL

IF + DOES, WILL DO
If + present simple tense, will + bare infinitive
2. IN 1ST CONDITIONAL IF IS USED TO SPECULATE ABOUT THE FUTURE CONSEQUENCES OF A SPECIFIC EVENT. IN THIS CASE, THE
VERB IN THE SECOND PART OF THE SENTENCE IS PRECEDED BY WILL.
If they offer a good price, we will buy the whole consignment.
COMMON MISTAKE. We do not use will in the if part of the sentence.
3. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AN EVENT THAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE, WE CAN USE IF OR WHEN.
I am flying to the States tonight. I'll give you a ring if I can find a phone.
(The speaker is not sure if he will be able to find a phone or not.)
I am flying to the States tonight. I'll give you a ring when I get there.
(The speaker has no doubt that the plane will arrive safely.)
4. IN A SENTENCE WITH AN IF-CLAUSE WE CAN USE THE IMPERATIVE, OR OTHER MODAL VERBS, INSTEAD OF WILL + INFINITIVE
If you hear from Susan today, tell her to ring me.
If the traffic is bad, I may get home late.
Note. We say the traffic but a traffic jam
5. 1ST CONDITIONAL IS USUALLY USED IN SUCH CASES:
Contingency plans, considering events that may/may not occur
If I feel too excited to sleep, I'll try reading one of our reports.
Planning your manpower
We'll need more staff if / when / in case we start the new project.
Company forecast
Degress of certainty
Project planning

C. CONDITIONALS: if, unless, in case, provided that, as long as, so that

6. IF AND UNLESS
Unless means the same as if ... not. It always refers to the conditional part of the sentence and not the result part of the
sentence:
If he doesn't get here soon, we will have to start the meeting without him.
Unless he gets here soon, we will have to start the meeting without him.
We often use not + unless, which means only ... if, when we want to emphasize a condition:
They will only sign the contract if we give them an additional discount.
They won't sign the contract unless we give them an additional discount.
7. IF AND IN CASE
We use in case to talk about precautions we will take before a problem happens. We use if to talk about what we will do
after a problem happens:
We are going to insure the shipment in case the goods get damaged in transit.
(We will take our insurance first; the problem may or may not happen afterward.)
If the goods get damaged in transit, we'll make a claim.
(The damage may happen, and we will make a claim afterward.)
Note that that in sentence with in case, we often use going to rather than will because we are often talking about
something that we have already decided to do.
8. PROVIDED THAT VS AS LONG AS, ETC.
We can use provided that/providing, as long as, and so long as when we want to emphasize condition. Provided that and
as long as mean if and only if (providing and so long as are a little less formal):
I will agree to these conditions provided that they increase my salary.
(I will only agree if they give me more money.)
The strike will be successful as long as we all stay together.
(It will only succeed if we all stay together.)
9. SO THAT
We use so that to say what the result or purpose of an action will be:
I'll take a credit card so that we don't run out of money.
(The credit card will stop us from running out of money)

D. 2ND CONDITIONAL
IF + DID, WOULD DO
If + past tense, would + infinitive

10. 2nd conditional can be used to refer to less probable or impossible situations. The verb in the second part is preceded
by would / should / could / might.
The if-clause can come in the first part of the sentence, or the second.
If I knew her number, I would send her a fax.
I would send her a fax if I knew her number.
COMMON MISTAKE. We do not use would in the if part of the sentence.
11. THIS FORM REFERS TO PRESENT OR FUTURE TIME.
If these machines were not so expensive, we would buy them.
If we hired a lawyer, we would recover our debts more easily.
If I lost my job tomorrow, I would move to London to find the same kind of job.
The first two sentences refer to present situation, and imagining a situation that is different from the reality. In the third we are
talking about a possible event in the future, but using second conditional we make it clear that we do not really think it will happen.
12. 2ND CONDITIONAL IS USUALLY USED IN SUCH CASES
Stating preferences
Supposing
If I were 10 years younger, I'd take the job.
As long as / Providing it was well paid, I'd accept this proposal.
Unusual circumstances
I would / might join the army, if there was a war.
I wouldn't go on strike, unless there was no alternative.
13. FIRST OR SECOND CONDITIONAL
If we think that future event is reasonably likely, we use first conditional
If the market grows at 7% a month, it will involve new investment rapidly.
If we are talking about an event that is unlikely or impossible, we use the second conditional
If I had as much money as Bill Gates of Microsoft, I would retire.
14. VARIATION
It is also possible to use might and could instead of would
If we received credit, we could expand much more rapidly.
In the if-clause , we can use were instead of was. This is very common when we give advice using the expression If I were
you ...
If I were you, I would have another look through those figures.

E. 3RD CONDITIONAL
IF + HAD DONE, WOULD + HAVE DONE
If + past perfect tense, would + present perfect
15. 3RD CONDITIONAL IS USED WHEN TALKING ABOUT THINGS THAT DIDN'T HAPPENED IN THE PAST (AND THE CONSEQUENCE IF
THEY HAD HAPPENED). THE VERB IN THE SECOND PART IS USED WITH WOULD / SHOULD / COULD / MIGHT (+ HAVE + PAST
PARTICIPLE).
If I'd known it was formal party, I wouldn't have gone wearing jeans and jumper. I would have worn suit.
16. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
When we use the 3rd conditional we are imagining the opposite situation. If what actually happened was negative, we use
a positive form. If what actually happened was positive, we use a negative form:
If my client had given me her fax number, I wouldn't have had to post a letter to her.
If I'd known it was a formal party, I wouldn't have gone wearing jeans and a jumper.
If I had not been in Amsterdam at the last RIPE meeting, I would not have met Esther Dyson and I wouldn't have
known she speaks Russian.
17. MIXED CONDITIONALS
If we talk about a past action and its result in the present we use if + past perfect and would not + infinitive:
If he hadn't done well on the training courses, he wouldn't be a Project leader now.
 First Conditional

IF + SIMPLE PRESENT + , WILL + BASE FORM

(IF-CLAUSE) (RESULT CLAUSE)
If I have the money, I will buy a car.

OR

WILL + BASE FORM IF + SIMPLE PRESENT

(RESULT CLAUSE) (IF-CLAUSE)
I will buy a car if I have the money.

The if-clause establishes a condition, which means that something is necessary or must occur in order for something else to occur.
In the example above, I must have money in order to buy the car, so having money is the condition for buying the car.

The first conditional uses the simple present in the if-clause and the future in the result clause. We normally use will in the result
clause, but going to is also possible.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT + , GOING TO + BASE FORM
(IF-CLAUSE) (RESULT CLAUSE)
If you get straight A's, I'm going to buy you a new
computer.
GOING TO + BASE FORM IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
(RESULT CLAUSE) (IF-CLAUSE)
I'm going to buy you a new if you get straight A's.
computer
We can begin the sentence with the if-clause or the result clause. If the sentence begins with the if-clause, we use a comma after it
(as in this sentence). If the if-clause comes at the end of the sentence, we do not use a comma before it.

Remember: Never use will in the if-clause!

The first conditional is used to express a real possibility in the future. If you use the first conditional, you believe there is a good
chance that the condition will be met. In our example, the speaker believes that there is a good chance that he/she will have the
money necessary to buy the car.

We often use the negative form won't with even if to make a negative more emphatic.
WON'T + BASE FORM EVEN IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
I won't go to the party even if they beg me.
Here the speaker will not go to the party under any conditions, and begging will not change his/her mind.

Another variation is the use of whether or not to say that one thing would not be affected by another thing. Whether or not is
usually separated, but it can be used without being separated.
WHETHER + SIMPLE PRESENT +
WILL + BASE FORM
OR NOT
I will go to the party whether you go or not.
WHETHER OR NOT + SIMPLE
WILL + BASE FORM
PRESENT
I will go to the party whether or not you go.
Conditional sentences can have any combination of affirmative and negative clauses.
IF + DO/DOES + NOT + BASE
WILL + BASE FORM
FORM
If you don't go to the party, I'll stay home.
IF + DO/DOES + NOT + BASE
WILL + NOT + BASE FORM
FORM
 If you don't go to the party, I won't go either.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT WILL + NOT + BASE FORM
If you go to the party, I won't stay home.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT WILL + BASE FORM
If you go to the party, I'll go too.
You can use unless instead of if in the conditional clause. Unless is approximately equivalent to if...not.
WILL + BASE FORM UNLESS + SIMPLE PRESENT
I'll stay home unless you go to the party.
UNLESS + SIMPLE PRESENT WILL + BASE FORM
Unless you go to the party, I'll stay home.
I'll stay home unless you go to the party. = I will stay home if you don't go to the party.

Instead of using unless, we can use provided (that), providing, as long as, so long as, and on condition that.
WILL + BASE FORM
I'll go to the party
I'll go to the party
I'll go to the party
I'll go to the party
I'll go to the party
We can use only in these conditionals.
ONLY + WILL + BASE FORM
I will only go to the party
WILL + BASE FORM
I will go to the party
A variation of the first conditional is the use of the imperative in the result clause instead of the future.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
If you come to the party,
It is also possible to use modals other than will in the result clause.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
If you go to New York,
If you go to New York,
If you go to New York,
If you go to New York,
You can also use quasi-modals in the result clause.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
If you go to New York,
If you go to New York,
In order to express more doubt about the condition in the if-clause, we sometimes use should or happen to.
IF + SHOULD + BASE FORM
If I should get the job,
PROVIDED/ETC. + SIMPLE
PRESENT
provided you go too.
providing you go too.
as long as you go too.
so long as you go too.
on condition that you go too.
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
if you go too.
ONLY IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
only if you go too.
IMPERATIVE
bring some soft drinks.
MODAL + BASE FORM
you should visit the art
museums.
you must see a Broadway
show.
I may go with you.
I might go with you.
QUASI-MODAL + BASE FORM
you have to go to a good
restaurant.
you need to visit Greenwich
Village.
WILL + BASE FORM
I'll move to Los Angeles.
 IF + HAPPEN TO + BASE FORM WILL + BASE FORM
If I happen to get the job, I'll move to Los Angeles.
If I should happen to get the I'll move to Los Angeles.
job,

We can also use adverbs such as probably or possibly to modify the verb in the result clause.
WILL + PROBABLY + BASE
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT
FORM
If I get the job, I'll probably move to Los
Angeles.
 Second Conditional

IF + SIMPLE PAST + , WOULD + BASE FORM

(IF-CLAUSE) (RESULT CLAUSE)
If I had the money, I would buy a car.

OR

WOULD + BASE FORM IF + SIMPLE PAST

(RESULT CLAUSE) (IF-CLAUSE)
I would buy a car if I had the money.

The second conditional is used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations. The if-clause establishes an unreal condition. We are
talking about something that does not exist. We use the simple past tense to show that we are speaking about something in the
present that is unreal, imaginary, impossible, hypothetical, etc. In the example above, I do not have the money I need to buy a car.

The second conditional uses the simple past in the if-clause and would in the result clause. Although would is the most common
form in the result clause, could and might are also used.

We can begin the sentence with the if-clause or the result clause. If the sentence begins with the if-clause, we use a comma after it
(as in this sentence). If the if-clause comes at the end of the sentence, we do not use a comma before it.
If I knew the answer, I would tell you. [comma after initial if-clause]
I would tell you if I knew the answer. [no comma before final if-clause]

Would indicates certainty.

IF + SIMPLE PAST + , WOULD + BASE FORM
(IF-CLAUSE) (RESULT CLAUSE)
If I had the money, I would buy a car.

OR

WOULD + BASE FORM IF + SIMPLE PAST

(RESULT CLAUSE)
I would buy a car
Could indicates possibility or ability.
IF + SIMPLE PAST + ,
(IF-CLAUSE)
If I had the money,
(IF-CLAUSE)
if I had the money.
COULD + BASE FORM
(RESULT CLAUSE)
I could buy a car.

OR

COULD + BASE FORM IF + SIMPLE PAST

(RESULT CLAUSE)
I could buy a car
Might indicates doubt or uncertainty.
IF + SIMPLE PAST + ,
(IF-CLAUSE)
If I had the money,
(IF-CLAUSE)
if I had the money.
MIGHT + BASE FORM
(RESULT CLAUSE)
I might buy a car.

OR

MIGHT + BASE FORM IF + SIMPLE PAST

(RESULT CLAUSE) (IF-CLAUSE)
I might buy a car if I had the money.
Formal English and Standard American English use were for all persons of the verb be in the if-clause, although was is common in
informal speech.
 If I were retired, I would go back to college.

Remember: Never use would in the if-clause!

We can use could in the if-clause when referring to hypothetical ability.

If I could sing well, I would/might try out for American Idol. (I can't sing well.)
I would/might try out for American Idol if I could sing well. (I can't sing well.)
1
Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman divide these conditionals, which they call "imaginative," into two groups:
hypothetical conditionals
counterfactual conditionals [contrary to fact]

Hypothetical conditionals refer to unlikely but possible events or states.

If I had the money, I would buy a car. [Having money is possible.]

Counterfactual conditionals refer to impossible events or states.

"If I had the wings of a swallow, I would travel far over the sea." [Having wings is impossible.]

They point out that the if-clause in a hypothetical conditional is not strongly negated (the situation could change) and can therefore
2
be further weakened with should or happen to .
If I should have the money, I would buy a car.
If I happened to have the money, I would buy a car.
If I should happen to have the money, I would buy a car.

The if-clause in a counterfactual conditional is, however, strongly negated (the situation cannot change because we are dealing with
3
an impossibility). Thus we cannot further weaken the conditional with should or happen to .
1, 2, 3
Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman, The Grammar Book, 2nd ed., p. 551