Second Conditional
You may remember from The Second Conditional that Second Conditional sentences do not generally express facts or reality. Instead, they express either unlikely or unreal situations in the present and future. These hypothetical situations are created by backshifting the if clause to the past.
| If | Past Simple | , | Would / Could + Base Verb |
The order of the clauses is interchangeable, and their order does not affect the sentence’s meaning.
- If I were you, I would fact check these candidates’ statements. (unreal)
- If my sister were/was rich, she could get our mom her own house. (unreal)
- You could be in the next Olympics if you tried harder. (unlikely)
- If I didn't have such bad eyes, I would become a pilot. (unlikely)
Differences Between First and Second Conditional Sentences
The difference between First and Second Conditional sentences is not related to time. By using a past form in the Second Conditional, the speaker is expressing that the situation is hypothetical. This means that the situation may be impossible, imaginary, or unlikely.
- If I have enough time, I will eat breakfast before class today.
(I may have time, so eating breakfast before class is possible.) - If I had enough time, I would eat breakfast before class today.
(I never have enough time, so it’s impossible for me to eat breakfast before class)
- If I trust their sources, I will read their articles in preparation for my presentation..
(Maybe I will read their articles in preparation for my presentation.) - If I trusted their sources, I would read their articles in preparation for my presentation.
(Probably I won’t read their articles in preparation for my presentation.)
- If it rains this weekend, we'll...
(Said in London, England, where it rains a lot.) - If it rained this weekend, we would...
(Said in Arizona, where it almost never rains.)
- If World War III happens today, we'll...
(I'm a pessimist) - If World War III happened today, we'd...
(I'm an optimist)
Other Expressions: Even If and Unless
Like the Zero and First Conditionals in Zero and First Conditionals, there are other phrases that can be used to form the Second Conditional -- even if and unless.
Even if...
Like we saw in Grammar 6-1, the use of even if makes the clause more emphatic. Even if... suggests that something would (not) happen regardless of the unreal, hypothetical situation.
- Even if my brother knew how to analyze news sources, he would not spend time doing it.
- He would love a new pair of sunglasses even if they were fake.
- Even if she wanted to read fake news, she could not access it.
Unless...
Like we saw in Grammar 6-1, we can use unless... instead of If...not....
- I would vote for him unless some negative information came to light.
= I wouldn’t vote for him if some negative information came to light. - He would tell us the truth unless someone was threatening him.
= He wouldn’t tell us the truth if someone was threatening him. - Unless we taught him how to write fake news articles, he could not do it.
= If we taught him how to write fake news articles, he could do it. (in this case, the verb could not is already negative, so it changes to the positive form could because unless already has a negative feeling.
Third Conditional
Third Conditional sentences are never based on facts or in reality. They express unreal, hypothetical situations in the past. It is impossible to go back to the past to change a situation, but we want to express how things would have been different if we could have changed that situation. The hypothetical situation is explained by a backshifting of the past tense to the past perfect and changing would/could to the perfect infinitive.
| If | Past Perfect | , | Would / Could + Have + Past Participle |
The order of the clauses is interchangeable, and their order does not affect the sentence’s meaning.
- If you hadn't left home early, you would have arrived late.
(But you left home early, so you didn’t arrive late.) - We wouldn't have voted for her if we had known that article was fake news.
(But we didn’t know, so we voted for her.) - We wouldn't have bought the shirts if we had known they were fake.
(But we didn’t know they were fake, so we bought them.) - If you had read that article yesterday, you would have learned a great deal.
(But you didn’t read that article, so you didn’t learn a great deal.)
Other Expressions
Even if...
Again, the use of Even if makes the clause more emphatic. Even if... suggests that something would (not) have happened regardless of the unreal, hypothetical situation.
- Even if you had heard everything he said, you would have been lost.
- He would have gotten angry even if she had told him the truth.
- Even if you had spotted the fake news earlier, you could not have stopped it from spreading.
Now go to the exercise and follow the instructions.
Speaking Practice
Look at the possibilities in your tab and ask your partner(s) questions about them using the second and third conditionals. Don’t forget to try and keep the conversation going with follow-up questions. Here you can see an example.
- You woke up yesterday morning and discovered your bike had been stolen
What would you have done if you had woken up yesterday and discovered your bike had been stolen?
Wow, I guess I would have called the police and then taken the bus to school.
What do you think the police would have done?
I think they would have...
Look at the possibilities in the list below and ask your partner(s) questions about them using the second and third conditionals. Don’t forget to try and keep the conversation going with follow-up questions.
- you are Canadian
- you lost your passport on the bus last night
- you found out your government lied about something
- you find a backpack with $100,000 in it
- you heard a terrible rumour about your best friend
- you find out your teacher was in jail many years ago
- you saw a UFO walking home yesterday
Look at the possibilities in the list below and ask your partner(s) questions about them using the second and third conditionals. Don’t forget to try and keep the conversation going with follow-up questions.
- your hair turned white while you slept last night
- you moved to South Africa for work
- you go camping and see a Bigfoot
- your girlfriend or boyfriend told you that they lied about their age when you first met
- you had been born 50 years earlier than you were
- you invented Facebook
- you hear a terrible rumour about your best friend