This document discusses different types of conditionals and wish clauses: [1] Zero, first, second, third, and mixed conditionals are explained using examples. These conditionals refer to situations that are real, likely, unlikely, or contrary to fact. [2] Wish clauses are used to express wishes about present, past, and future situations. Wishes about the present use "wish/if only" plus past tense. Wishes about the past use "wish/if only" plus "had". Wishes about the future use "wish/if only" plus "would". [3] Other structures like inversion, implied conditionals, and uses of "if" are also covered

1. CONDITIONALS & WISH CLAUSES
by BETÜL YETİM

2. ZERO CONDITIONAL
• If + present simple, present simple
• True fact in the present or the future
Examples:
• If you heat water to 100° C, it boils.
• If she gets embarrassed, she blushes.

3. FIRST CONDITIONAL
• If + present simple, future simple
present conti., future conti.
present perfect, future perfect
present modals, future perfect conti.
imperative
present modal verbs
• Likely to happen in the present or future

4. Examples:
• If I have enough money, I will go on holiday.
• If you want to speak to me, I’ll be studying in
the library.
• If I am not given any extra work, I will have
finished writing this report by tomorrow.
• If it doesn’t stop by the evening, it will have
been raining for two weeks straight.

5. • If we have to be at the airport at 9, we had
better leave now. (modal + modal)
• If you don’t want to put on weight, you should
stop eating fast food. (pre. sim. + modal)
• Normally we don’t use “will” after if, but
when you are making a polite request you can
say: If you’ll wait here a moment, I’ll show
you to the manager’s office.

6. SECOND CONDITIONAL
• If + past simple, would / could / might v1
• Imaginary situation, contrary to the fact in the
present
Examples:
• If Ahmet were two years older, he could get a
driver’s license.
• If there were a university at my hometown, I
wouldn’t have to leave home and go to
Istanbul.

7. • I might consider moving to a bigger flat if I
could get a better job.
• If my husband were to come home early
today, we might go out to dinner.

8. THIRD CONDITIONAL
• If + past perfect, would / could / might have v3
• Imaginary situation, contrary to the fact in the
past
Examples:
• If you had invited me to your party, I would
certainly have (certainly) come.

9. • If you had talked to your teacher, she might
have given you a couple of more days to
complete your project.
• If there had been live music at the wedding,
we could have had more fun.

10. MIXED CONDITIONALS
• If + past, present
If I had won the lottery last week, I would be a rich
man now.
(I didn’t win it and I am not rich.)
• If + past, future
If Mark had gotten the job, he would be moving to
Shanghai next month.
(He didn’t get the job and he isn’t going to move to
Shanghai.)

11. • If + present, past
If Sam spoke Russian, he would have translated
the letter for you. (He doesn’t speak Russian so
he didn’t translate it.)
• If + future, past
If we weren’t going away for the weekend, we
would have accepted your dinner invitation.
(We are going away and that’s why we didn’t
accept your invitation.)

12. INVERSION in CONDITIONALS
• TYPE 1
If you need help…. : Should you need help….
(Should + subj. + v1 + main clause)
Should you not be satisfied with our goods, please return them in
a week to get a refund. (not comes after the subject)
• TYPE 2
If I were you….. : Were I you….
(Were + subj. + obj. + main clause)
Were I you, I would not buy that second-hand car.
(Were + subj. + to infinitive + main clause)
Were I to come to the office tomorrow, we could have a meeting.

13. • TYPE 3
If they had told us…. : Had they told us….
(had + subj. + v3 + main clause)
Had I known you were studying, I would not
have made so much noise.

14. IMPLIED CONDITIONALS
• with / without + noun / noun phrase
You’re already a good musician. With some
instruction, you can easily learn the saxophone.
(If you take some classes, you can easily learn the
saxophone.)
• but
I could have answered all the questions, but we didn’t
have enough time.
• but for + noun / noun phrase
But for the interruptions, the meeting would have
finished earlier. (If it wasn’t for the… / Without the…)

15. • otherwise / or (else) + clause
You tell him what color car you want, or (else) /
otherwise he will choose a color that he likes.
• if so / if not (to avoid repetition)
I’ll try to fix the TV tomorrow. If not, you’ll have to wait
until next Friday.
Has SezenAksu’s latest album been released? If
so, where can I find it?

16. OTHER WORDS USED in CONDITIONALS
• only if / provided / providing (that) / on condition that /
as (so) long as
Only if he finishes high school, will he be able to attend
university.
(when you use “only if” at the beginning of a sentence the other half of the
sentence will be inverted.)
Your little sister can come to the concert with us only if /
provided (that) / providing (that) / on condition that / as
long as she behaves herself.
• unless (negative meaning but positive sentence)
Don’t use this entrance unless you have to.
3rd conditional excluded, “unless = if not”
If she weren’t so fat, she would be an attractive girl. ✔
Unless she were so fat, she would be an attractive girl. ✗

17. • even if
Even if he apologizes for crashing my car, I won’t forgive
him.
• suppose (that) / supposing (that) / what if
Suppose (that) everyone owned a car, what would the
traffic be like?
What if he cheated on you, would you still love him?
• whether or not (two or more choices)
Whether I win or lose, I want to play a game of chess
with the school champion.
My mother is going to buy a new laptop whether or not
the prices come down.

18. • in case
Take some warm clothes with you in case the camping site is
cold.
We left home early; in case we got stuck in traffic.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
I have an extra ticket if your sister wants to join us.
I have an extra ticket in case your sister wants to join us.

19. OTHER USES of IF (not conditions but situations)
• If you saw Jack yesterday, why didn’t you ask
him to come and talk to me?
• If I was rude to you, please forgive me.
• If you are not going to do what I say, why did you
ask me for advice?
• If the doctor has told you to take this
medicine, you should take it.

20. WISHES ABOUT THE PRESENT
• I wish / If only + past simple / past conti. / could + bare
infinitive
• A wish about the present
• A situation you want to be different
Example:
I wish / If only this exercise weren’t so difficult.
I wish / If only we weren’t staying at a hotel.
I wish / If only I could come to the cinema with you.

21. WISHES ABOUT THE PAST
• I wish / If only + past perfect sim. / conti.
• I wish / If only + could have v3
• A wish about a past situation
• You want to have been different (regret)
Example:
I wish / If only I hadn’t been driving so fast.
I wish / If only you had told me you needed help.
I wish / If only I could have answered the questions.

22. WISHES ABOUT THE FUTURE
• I wish / If only + would + bare infinitive
• A wish for a future change
• Unlikely to happen / wish to express dissatisfaction
Example:
I wish / If only David would change his mind.
He wishes he could (not would) play the piano.
I wish / If only she wouldn’t talk so much.
I wish you would listen to me.