Review of conditionals

Review of the four conditionals (revision lesson)

Learning objectives:

In today's lesson you will:

• Review the four uses of the conditional in English

• Understand the difference between each conditional and their grammatical structures

• Practise recognising each conditional (matching activity and quiz)

• (Lesson aimed at students who have completed learning on this topic as a mini review)

Review - What exactly is a conditional sentence?

What do all four sentence types have in common?

• All conditional sentences are made up of two parts or clauses (these can be swapped around without changing the meaning).

• They are all separated by the conjunction 'If'

• They all describe a situation that relies on a 'condition' (something else to happen) in order for a result to take place

• If it rains today, sports day will be cancelled - Sports day will be cancelled if it rains today! (the same meaning)

• Here, rain is the condition and the cancellation is the result!

Multiple Select

Which of these sentences are NOT conditional sentences:

• If it rains, I will definitely wear a coat

• Let's decide if we will go out tonight

• If I get sick I go to the doctor

• If I went to class last week I would have passed my exam!

• He isn't sure if he's coming to the party.

​The zero conditional - the factual conditional

We use the zero conditional to talk about things that are generally true, facts, especially for laws and rules:

If + present simple + present simple

• If I drink too much coffee I can't sleep at night!

• Ice melts if you heat it

• I see the doctor if I am sick

Drag and Drop

Plants​

Placeholder

if they ​

Placeholder

enough water

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

die

don't get

dead

don't got

The 1st conditional - possible and likely outcome

We use the first conditional when we talk about future situations that we believe are real or could possibly happen. If the first condition happens, something will happen as a result:

If + present simple + will + infinitive (base verb)

• If I finish my homework tonight I'll come to the party (I will)

• Arsenal will be top of the league if they win today!

• If the weather is hot tomorrow we'll go for a swim

Drag and Drop

If you book early,

Placeholder

get a seat

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

you will

you would

you might

The second conditional - Impossible or unlikely in reality

The second conditional is used to imagine present or future situations that are impossible or unlikely in reality:

• If + past simple + would + infinitive

• If I won a lot of money, I would buy us a big house in the country

• She would travel more if she was younger

• If he was prime minister he would spend more money on schools

• We use modal verbs like might/could/would in the result clause (not the if clause)

Drag and Drop

If Jim ​

Placeholder

us up, we ​

Placeholder

go to the party

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

picked

could

pick

will

picks

The 3rd conditional - Past, unreal/impossible conditional

The third conditional is used to imagine a different past - a change in a past situation and the different result of that change (sometimes a negative sentence, an explanation and regretful in tone)

• If + past perfect + would have + past participle

• If I had understood the instructions properly, I would have passed the exam

• We wouldn't have got lost if my phone hadn't run out of battery

• If I had known you were in London I would have met you yesterday

Drag and Drop

If we had ​

Placeholder

our money we ​

Placeholder

a bigger car

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

saved

could have bought

could have brought

save

Match

Test what you already know! Can you match each sentence with the correct form of the conditional?

• If I get sick, I go to the doctor

• If I get sick I will go to the doctor

• If I got sick I would go to the doctor

• If I had been sick, I would have gone to the doctor

O conditional

1st conditional

2nd conditional

3rd conditional

• O conditional

• 1st conditional

• 2nd conditional

• 3rd conditional

Now take the quiz to practice what you have learnt in today's lesson!