Conditionals
Conditional sentences, also often called if sentences, are special ones which give information about certain conditions that need to be met for there to be certain outcomes or consequences. For example, you can not go to university (outcome) unless you first pass your exam (condition), so you may see this sentence:
| Condition | Outcome |
|---|---|
| If I pass my exam, | I can go to university. |
Conditional sentences can relate to information in the past, present, or future and may refer to a real or unreal situation. A real conditional describes real-life situations while an unreal conditional describes unreal, imaginary situations. The following table organizes some real and unreal examples according to time and gives the common name of each. Focus on the explanation of the meaning of each sentence.
Conditionals
Present Real Conditional (zero conditional)
If I have money, I buy books.
Sometimes I have money.
Past Real Conditional (zero conditional)
If I had money, I bought books.
Sometimes I had money.
Future Real Conditional (first conditional)
If I have money, I will buy books.
If I have money, I am going to buy books.
I don't know if I will have money or not.
Present Unreal Conditional (second conditional)
If I had money, I would buy books.
I don't have money.
Past Unreal Conditional (third conditional)
If I had had money, I would have bought books.
I didn't have money.
Future Unreal Conditional (second conditional)
If I had money, I would buy books.
I won't have money.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.