First and Second Conditional

First and Second Conditional

First Conditional

It's used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can't know what will happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily come true.

You can use the the first conditional to talk about predictions, superstitions, future plans, warnings & threats, and offers & suggestions. These are things that are real, so this conditional is also called the future real conditional.

There are two parts to a conditional sentence. There is an if-clause (also called the conditional-clause) and a main-clause or result-clause. The if-clause contains the condition (the event or situation that must happen first), and the main-clause, which is the result. The two events are connected. One event or situation is a condition for another event or situation.

First Conditional Structure

if + present simple, ... will + infinitive

Examples:

• If you don’t hurry, you’ll be late for work.

• If you break a mirror, you will have 7 years of bad luck!

• If you go shopping tomorrow, I’ll go with you!

• Slow down! If the police catch you speeding, you’ll get a ticket.

 You can make one or both clauses negative:

• If you don’t put your toys away, you won’t get any dessert.

• If you don’t study, you won’t get into a good university.

• If I go out tonight, I won’t go out tomorrow night.

• You won’t get any dessert unless you put your toys away.

You can change the order of the clauses:

• My mom will be angry if I’m late tonight.

• You’ll be late for work if you don’t hurry.

• You will have bad luck if you open an umbrella indoors.

Poll

Is that clear, guys?

• Absolutely!

• Kind of

• So so

• Not at all!

Second Conditional

We can use it to talk about impossible or imaginary situations:

If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello.

She would travel all over the world if she were rich.

Structure

If + subject + past simple, subject + would + infinitive verb (without to)

We can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true:

• If I had his number, I would call him. (I don't have his number now, so it's impossible for me to call him).

• If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man.

How is this different from the first conditional?

This kind of conditional sentence is different from the first conditional because this is a lot more unlikely.

For example (second conditional): If I had enough money I would buy a house with twenty bedrooms and a swimming pool (I'm probably not going to have this much money, it's just a dream, not very real)

But (first conditional): If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes (It's much more likely that I'll have enough money to buy some shoes)