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Let us revise now the conditional
sentences... |
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REAL AND UNREAL CONDITIONAL |
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This kind of conditional sentence (Type 1) is used to talk about a
possible present or future situation and its result.
You can use any present tense in the if clause and any form of the future in
the other clause. |
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1. |
They won't get a table unless they've already
booked. |
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2. |
Can I borrow your dictionary a moment if you're not using it?
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3. |
If it
stops
raining, I'm going to walk into town. |
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You can use Type 2 conditional sentences to talk about hypothetical or
improbable situations in the present or future.
You can use the past tense (simple or continuous) in the if clause and
would
+ infinitive (or could / might) in the other clause. |
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4. |
How
would you know if he
wasn't telling the truth? |
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5. |
If we
had a bit more time here, we
could go on an all-day river trip. |
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Type 3 conditional sentences are used to talk about a hypothetical
situation in the past.
You can use the past perfect (simple or continuous) in the if clause and
would have + infinitive (or could / might have) in the other clause. |
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6. |
I
would have picked you up if
I had known what time your flight arrived. |
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7. |
If I'd been looking where I was going, I
would've seen the hole in the road. |
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MIXED CONDITIONALS |
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If we want to refer to the present and the past in the same sentence, we can
mix tenses from two different types of conditional. Examples:
I wouldn't be in
this mess (type 2) if I had listened to your advice (type 3).
Jane would
have left Mike by now (type 3) if she didn't still love him (type 2). |
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1. |
I
wouldn't be in this mess if I
had listened to your advice.
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2. |
Jane
would have
left Mike by now if she didn't still
love him. |
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ALTERNATIVES TO IF IN CONDITIONAL SENTENCES |
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Now check below the different alternatives: |
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1. |
I'll tell you what happened
as long as /
so long as you promise not to
tell anyone else. |
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Provided /
Providing (that) the bank lends us all the money we need, we're
going to buy that flat we liked. |
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They agreed to lend us the car
on condition (that) we returned it by the
weekend. |
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2. |
I'm going to sell the car
whether you agree with me
or not. |
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3. |
Even if I get the job, I'm going to carry on living with my parents for a
while. |
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4. |
Supposing you lost your job, what would you do? |
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5. |
Had I known that you were coming, I would have bought a bottle of wine. |
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On the next page you will be able to practise
this grammar. |
