Conditional Sentences

Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. In English, most sentences using the conditional contain the word if. Many conditional forms in English are used in sentences that include verbs in one of the past tenses. This usage is referred to as "the unreal past" because we use a past tense but we are not actually referring to something that happened in the past. There are three types of Conditional Sentences.

There are a number of structures in English that are called the conditionals which are used to talk about possible or imaginary situations. A "Condition" is a "situation or circumstance".

For example: If a certain condition is true, then a particular result happens.

There are four basic conditionals that we use in English.

1. Zero Conditional

2. First Conditional

3. Second Conditional

4. Third Conditional

There are some more conditionals formed by mixing some of these four. To learn more about these, see our glossary entry: English Conditionals.

Structure of Conditional Sentences

The structure of the conditionals is straightforward. There are two basic possibilities in terms of order in the sentence:

IF	Condition	Result
If	It rains	We will get wet

or like this:

Result	IF	Condition
We will get wet	If	It rains

Notice that we only use a comma in the first example.

Conditionals: Time and Probability Table

Probability	Conditional	Example	Time
Certain	Zero conditional	If you heat water to 100 degress celsius, it boils	Anytime
Likely	First conditional	If it rains, I will stay in	Future
Unlikely	Second conditional	If i won the lottery, I would retire	Future
Imposible	Second conditional	If  i had the money, I would lend it	Present
Imposible	Third conditional	If i had seen him, I would given him the massage	Past

First Conditional: A real possibility in the future

A First Conditional sentence is one connecting two future actions, where one must take place before the second is possible. Take a student who wants to go to university but hasn't got the results of their exams yet. They cannot go to university until they have received their results. In the case of a good student who is expected to get good grades, then there is a good possibility of achieving the marks required to get to university, so the following sentence could be used:

IF	Conditional	Result
	Present simple	WILL + base verb
If	She gets good grades	She will go to university

We are talking about the future, but we use a present tense for the condition and will for the result. In this case, the person is sure about going to university. We can use other modal verbs in the result part of the sentence:

IF	Conditional	Result	Possibility
If	She gets good grades	She will go to university	If the condition is met, the shedefinitely will go
If	He gets good grades	He may go to university	He is not sure about going to university
If	She gets good grades	She should go to university	The speaker is expressing his or her opinion, giving advice
If	He gets good grades	He can go to university	This means that it is possible
If	She gets good grades	She could go to university	That means that it is possible, but not that likely
If	He gets good grades	He might go to university	This means that it is possible, but not that likely

We can also use different present forms in the condition part of the sentence:

IF	Conditional	Reason for tense	Result
	Present simle	An action in the future
If	I see her		I’ll ask her about it
	Present progressive	An unfinished present action
If	They are still working		I’ll go home
	Present Progressive	A future arrangement
If	They are going		I’ll stay at home
	Present perfect	A finished action related to now
If	You have finished your meal		I’ll clear away the plates
	WILL + base verb	Making an agreement	WILL + base verb
If	You will work late today		I will let you have Friday off
	WILL + base verb	Expressing displeasure because someone insists on doing something	WILL + base verb
If	You will drive too fast		The police will stop you

Second Conditional: Imaginary Present or Unlikely Future

The Second Conditional can be used used to talk about imaginary present situations, where we are imagining something different from what is really the case. We can also use it to talk about things in the future that are unlikely to happen, as the condition is unlikely to be met. We use the past tense in the condition part and would for the result.

IF	Condition	Time	Result	Possibility
	Past simple	Present	WOULD + base verb	Impossible
If	I had the time		I would learn Italian	I don’t have the time, so I’m not going to learn Italian
	Past simple	Future	WOULD + base verb	Unlikely
If	I won the lottery		I would travel around the world	There’s a very small chance of winning the lottery, so the trip is unlikely

We can use other modal verbs in the past tense in the result part of the sentence:

IF	Condition	Result	Certainty
	Past simple	WOULD + base verb
If	I had the time	I would learnItalian	Although unlikely to happen, the speaker is sure that they would do it given the opportunity
If	I had more time	I might learnSpanish	Although unlikely to happen, it is only apossibility anyway
If	I had more time	I should learnsome more	Although unlikely to happen, the speaker is saying that it would be a good idea, but is not committed to it
If	I had more time	I could learn Hindi	Although unlikely to happen, it is only apossibility anyway

With the verb to be, there are two forms that can be used with I, he, she & it:

IF	Condition	Result
I, he, she, it	Were
If	I were you	I’d merry her
I, he, she, it	Was
If	I was you	I’d merry her

Third Conditional: Imaginary Past

The third conditional is used when we are talking about the past and imagining something different from what actually happened:

Condition	Result	What actually Happened
	Past Perfect	WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If	I had Known	I would have helped	I didn’t know and didn’t help

IF	Condition	Result	Certainty
	Past perfect	WOULD HAVE + past perticiple
If	I had known	I would have helped	Although this didn’t happen , the speaker is sure abaout the result
If	I had known	I could have helped	Although this didn’t happen , the result is only a possibility
If	I had known	I might have helped	Although this didn’t happen , the result is only a possibility
If	You had known	you should have helped	Although this didn’t happen, it is only a good suggestion or piece ofadvice

Zero Conditional: Certainty

The Zero conditional is used for things that are always true as long as the condition is met.

IF	Condition	Result	Situation
	Present simple	Present simple
If	You heat water to 100 degress celsius	It boils	Fact- universal
	Present simple	Present simple
If	I drink coffe	I get a headache	Fact- personal

In these examples, the result will always occur if the condition is met, so the time is not important.

Questions:

1. If the students _____ late to submit the scholarship application to the board, they will not be listed as candidates.

A. be

B. are

C. were

D. have

2. If we don’t hurry, the meeting ______ by the time we get there.

A. would have started

B. will have started

C. will be started

D. will start

3. If your brother ______ here, he ______ us with this works.

A. is - would help

B. was - will help

C. were - will help

D. were - would help

4. You _____ the job if you were not late to the interview.

A. would get

B. would be gotten

C. would have gotten

D. would have been gotten

5. Fortunately you assisted to push the car. If you hadn’t helped him, he ______ with you.

A. will get angry

B. would have gotten angry

C. should angry

D. would get angry

Sources:
1. http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/conditional/

2. https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals-an-introduction.html
3. https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals-first-conditional.html
4. https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals-second-conditional.html
5. https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals-third-conditional.html
6. https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals-zero-conditional.html
7. http://www.geniuslang.com/2016/05/soal-toefl-conditional-sentence.html