Downloaded 199 times
More Related Content
Conditionals
- 1.
- 2. Use of conditionalsentences Conditional sentences allow us to talk about PROBABLE, IMPROBABLE/ UNREAL AND IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS and their CONSEQUENCES. So, conditional sentences typically contain TWO CLAUSES: - a condition clause (if-clause) - a result clause
- 3. ZERO CONDITIONAL if+ presentsimple, / present simple Present simple / if+present simple To describe A STRAIGHTFORWARD CAUSE AND EFFECT If you press that button, the engine starts. To write a SCIENTIFIC TRUTH If you mix oil and water, the oil floats. *remember that in this kind of sentences, you can often replace “if” with “whenever”
- 4. FIRST CONDITIONAL: IF +PRESENT SIMPLE , WILL WILL / IF+PRESENT SIMPLE When we believe that something is LIKELY (PROBABLE) TO HAPPEN: If I have the money, I will buy a new car. You will pass your exams if you study hard. For PROMISES or THREATS: If I go to America, I’ll send you a postcard If you don’t do your homework, you won’t go out
- 5. POSSIBLE VARIATIONS OFTHE MAIN FORM: If+ present simple,/ will future 1) Instead of WILL, we may have other MODAL VERBS If you keep on behaving like that, you may/might have problems. If you finish your work in time, you can/may go home. If you want to lose weight, you must/should eat less bread. If you see Tom, could you ask him to ring me? 2) Instead of WILL, we may have an IMPERATIVE If you are hungry, make yourself a sandwich.
- 6. POSSIBLE VARIATIONS OFTHE MAIN FORM: If+ present simple,/ will future Instead of “PRESENT SIMPLE”, we may have a present continuous or a present perfect: If you are looking for Peter, you will find him upstairs. If you have finished dinner, I’ll ask the waiter for the bill.
- 7. SECOND CONDITIONAL: IF+ SIMPLEPAST, WOULD/COULD/ MIGHT + INFINITIVE when we think that a situation is NOT VERY LIKELY (problable) TO HAPPEN If the students were more serious, they could have better results. for UNREAL or IMAGINARY SITUATIONS: If I were the President of the USA, I would help poor people all over the world. for ADVICE: If I were you, I would think about it. for POLITE REQUESTS: Would you mind if I borrowed these CDs?
- 8. EXAMPLE OF POSSIBLEVARIATIONS If you tried again, you might succeed. If I knew her number, I could ring her up. If I were on holiday, I might be touring Italy.
- 9. THIRD CONDITIONAL IF+PAST PERFECT, WOULD/COULD/MIGHT HAVE +PAST PARTICIPLE To describe IMAGINARY or UNREAL SITUATIONS in the past If I had won the lottery, I wouldn’t have had financial problems. (= but I didn’t win the lottery and so I had financial problems) To express REGRETS: If you had bought me a diamond ring, I would have loved you forever. (= but you didn’t buy me one, so I stopped loving you!)
- 10. Examples of possiblevariations: - If I had known you were coming, I could have met you at the airport. (I didn’t know you were coming, so I didn’t meet you there) - We might have passed if we had studied harder. (We didn’t study hard, so we didn’t pass)
- 11. ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’... UNLESS (= if not) You wouldn’t lose weight, unless you stopped eating chocolate. Unless you hurry, you’ll miss the train. AS LONG AS / PROVIDED (THAT) / ON CONDITION THAT.... I’ll lend you my books as long as / provided that / on condition that you promise to bring them back. I woud lend you my books as long as / provided that/ on condition that you promised to bring them back.
- 12. ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’... EVEN IF... Even if I were a millionaire, I wouldn’t give him any money. OTHERWISE (= if it doesn’t happen/ if it didn’t happen/ it it hadn’t happened) Stop eating chocolate, otherwise you won’t lose weight. Her father pays her fees, otherwise she wouldn’t be here. He studied very hard, otherwise he wouldn’t have had such good marks.
- 13. ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’... INVERSIONS Had I known that he was upset, I wouldn’t have said anything. BUT FOR (if it weren’t for / if it hadn’t been for) We would go out more often but for the children. I wouldn’t have come to the party but for her insistence.
- 14. ALTERNATIVES TO ‘IF’... SUPPOSE/SUPPOSING (THAT) - Suppose (that) / supposing (that), + ………? Suppose he asks you for a date, will you accept? Suppose you failed your exam, would you tell your parents? Suppose they had offered you the job, would you have accepted?
- 15. I wish /If only We use I wish/ If only + past simple to talk about a desire for the present. I’m not very tall. I wish/If only I were taller. I haven’t got a house at the beach. I wish/ If only I had a house at the beach.
- 16. I wish /If only We use I wish/If only + past participle to talk about a regret about something in the past. I didn’t study very hard. I wish/ If only I had studied harder. I ate a lot; I’m so full. I wish/ If only I hadn’t eaten so much.
- 17. I wish /If only We use I wish/If only + would-inf to complain about something annoying. My parents never let me stay at my friends’ houses. I wish/ If only my parents would let me stay at my friends’ houses. He is always talking while the teacher is explaining. I wish/ If only he would stop talking.
- 18. MIXED CONDITIONALS It combinesthe THIRD CONDITIONAL (in the condition clause) with the SECOND CONDITIONAL (in the result clause): If I hadn’t eaten that seafood, I wouldn’t feel so awful now. If the weather had been fine last week, there would be roses in the garden now. * It happens when the time reference in the if-clause is different to the time reference in the main clause.
- 19. MIXED CONDITIONALS Orthe SECOND CONDITIONAL (in the if- clause) with the THIRD CONDITIONAL (in the main clause) If he weren’t so shy, he would have asked her to marry him. If Emma weren’t so lazy, she would have studied harder. * It happens when the time reference in the if-clause is different to the time reference in the main clause.