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First Conditional: real possibility
We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen.For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
IF | condition | result |
present simple | WILL + base verb | |
If | it rains | I will stay at home. |
We use the present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen. Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [IF condition result] and [result IF condition]?):
IF | condition | result |
present simple | WILL + base verb | |
If | I see Mary | I will tell her. |
If | Tara is free tomorrow | he will invite her. |
If | they do not pass their exam | their teacher will be sad. |
If | it rains tomorrow | will you stay at home? |
If | it rains tomorrow | what will you do? |
result | IF | condition |
WILL + base verb | present simple | |
I will tell Mary | if | I see her. |
He will invite Tara | if | she is free tomorrow. |
Their teacher will be sad | if | they do not pass their exam. |
Will you stay at home | if | it rains tomorrow? |
What will you do | if | it rains tomorrow? |
EXAMPLES:
Second Conditional
The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still thinking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen.
IF | condition | result |
past simple | WOULD + base verb | |
If | I won the lottery | I would buy a car. |
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. We use the past simple tense to talk about the future condition. We use WOULD + base verb to talk about the future result. The important thing about the second conditional is that there is an unreal possibility that the condition will happen.
Here are some more examples:
IF | condition | result |
past simple | WOULD + base verb | |
If | I married Mary | I would be happy. |
If | Ram became rich | she would marry him. |
If | it snowed next July | would you be surprised? |
If | it snowed next July | what would you do? |
result | IF | condition |
WOULD + base verb | past simple | |
I would be happy | if | I married Mary. |
She would marry Ram | if | he became rich. |
Would you be surprised | if | it snowed next July? |
What would you do | if | it snowed next July? |
Third Conditional
The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
condition | result | |
Past Perfect | WOULD HAVE + Past Participle | |
If | I had won the lottery | I would have bought a car. |
Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.
Look at some more examples in the tables below:
IF | condition | result |
past perfect | WOULD HAVE + past participle | |
If | I had seen Mary | I would have told her. |
If | Tara had been free yesterday | I would have invited her. |
If | they had not passed their exam | their teacher would have been sad. |
If | it had rained yesterday | would you have stayed at home? |
If | it had rained yesterday | what would you have done? |
result | IF | condition |
WOULD HAVE + past participle | past perfect | |
I would have told Mary | if | I had seen her. |
I would have invited Tara | if | she had been free yesterday. |
Their teacher would have been sad | if | they had not passed their exam. |
Would you have stayed at home | if | it had rained yesterday? |
What would you have done | if | it had rained yesterday? |
Video: