UNIT 2: GRAMMAR

INMACULADA GÓMEZ BENÍTEZ

2009-2010

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

OUTLINETYPES OTHER WAYS TO SAY “IF”

TYPE I/ FIRST CONDITIONAL

First conditional - future possibility / probability 

if-clause = present tense/modal; main clause = will/modal(can, may)  If I don't see you at the match on Saturday, I'll pop

round on Sunday morning.  If the conditions are good over Christmas or the

New Year, we may go skiing.  If you can't come to see us next weekend, we'll

come and visit you.  If you complete the work by lunchtime, you can

take the afternoon off.

ZERO TYPE/TYPE I

If can be replaced by WhenWhen / if it rains , I drive to school. I hate

getting wetLook¡¡¡ Both clauses in the present tense

Type II / SECOND CONDITIONAL

Second conditional –hypothetical situation, Imaginary situations

if-clause = past tense/modal; main clause = would/modal(could,might) If I tried harder, I could make friends with

my ex 

The “If I was/ If I were” issue

If I was… is a colloquial alternative to If I were….

In speech, many English people say If I was…, but If I were… is held to be grammatically correct. It is better, therefore, to stick to If I were…, as in these two examples: ‘If I were you, I’d fill the tank now so that we don’t

run out of petrol.’ ‘If I were to call in on my way home from work,

would that be all right?’

MIXED CONDITIONALS

When we talk about mixed conditionals, we are referring to conditional sentences that combine two different types of conditional patterns.

These combinations are not all that frequent, but the most common combination is when we have a type 3 conditional in the if-clause (if + past perfect) followed by a type 2 conditional (would + infinitive) in the main clause If he'd taken the medication as prescribed, he wouldn't still be

lying sick in bed.  If she'd taken reasonable precautions, she wouldn't be

pregnant now.  If he hadn't run after the car thief and suffered a heart attack,

he'd probably be alive today.

Type III / Third Conditional

Third conditional - we are often talking about something that might have happened, but didn't. There is nothing we can do about it.

if-clause =past perfect; main clause = would have/could have I didn't pass the exam. But if I had passed it, I

would have registered for the civil engineering course at Nottingham Trent University. 

We didn't manage to get there by nightfall. But if we had (managed to get there), we would have slept in a comfortable bed and not on the ground.   

Other ways to say “If”

UNLESS “If…..not”Unless our politicians reach an agreement./

If our politicians don´t reach an agreement/ The country won´t get out of the crisis

Other ways to say “If”

EVEN IFEven if we had got up earlier, we wouldn´t

have arrived on time

Other ways to say “If”

AS LONG AS….meaning only ifAs long as you promise to help me, I don't

mind cooking for twelve people on Easter Sunday.'

Other ways to say “If”

Providing (that )/ Provided (that)You can swim here provided the green flag

is flying.

Other ways to say “If”

IN CASE We use in case to talk about taking precautions,

doing something because something else might happen:

in case or if? When we use in case we are mostly describing future

possible situations. When we use if we are talking about conditions that apply. Compare the following and note the differences in meaning.

I'll fill up the car with petrol in case you need to go to Brighton. ( = I'll fill up now, because you might need it later.)

I'll fill up the car with petrol if you need to go to Brighton. ( = Let me know if you need to go to Brighton and then I'll fill up with petrol.)

SUPPOSING

Supposing you met your dream girl, would you marry her?

Subject / Verb inversion in third conditionals

Had I heard you were coming to the party , i would have bought more beer