This document provides information about using different types of conditionals to express arguments: - Zero conditional uses present tense and refers to general truths and habits (e.g. "If you leave the object, it drops"). - First conditional uses present tense and simple future to refer to likely future situations (e.g. "If you don't hurry, you will be late"). - Second conditional uses past tense and "would" to talk about unlikely or improbable situations (e.g. "If I won the lottery, I would buy a house"). - Third conditional uses past perfect tense to describe actions that could have been different if past conditions were different (e.g. "If

1. USING CONDITIONAL IN
EXPRESSING ARGUMENTS
(ZERO CONDITIONAL)

2. Singular noun with “s” (eg. rains,stops)
Plural noun
Including… (You, and
I)
without “s” (eg. buy, sing,

3.  When expressing arguments, you need to be able to use
conditionals to present possible scenarios. Typically, conditionals
are expressed using the if/when…then structure. The if/when clause
gives the antecedent, while the remaining clause is the
consequence.
(If/When+simple present (comma)…simple present)
(…simple present…if/when+simple present)
This conditional shows what you usually do in real-life
circumstances. Use this when talking about general truths and
habits.

4. EXAMPLES:
If you________ (leave) the object it ______(drop).
If you leave the object, it drops.
Water__________(freeze) when the temperature
_______(be) 0˚ Celsius
Water freezes when the temperature is 0˚ Celsius.

5. USING CONDITIONALS IN
EXPRESSING ARGUMENTS
(FIRST CONDITIONAL)

6. You, I, They Do not/Don’t
She, He, It Does not/Doesn’t
Singular noun with “s” (rains)
Plural noun without “s” (buy)
Noun Not Noun + Verb
Remember: do not/don’t/does not/doesn’t + base form of the verb
do not argue
doesn’t cure
(If+simple present (comma)…simple future)

7. 1. If you__________ (not to hurry) you ___________ (to be late) for school.
If you don’t hurry, you will be late for school.
2. If she ________(to study) her lesson she __________(to pass)
If she studies her lesson, she will pass.
 This conditional is used to refer to a situation that is likely to happen in the
future.
Examples:

8. Modal Verbs (Permission)
Can is most often used to ask for or give permission
at present.
May is use not to refuse permission in a formal way.
Could use in making polite requests.

9. USING CONDITIONAL IN
EXPRESSING ARGUMENTS
(SECOND CONDITIONAL)

10. You, I. She, He,
They
offered, suffered,
won, bought,
would offer/suffer/win/b
uy
Pronoun + simple past + base form of the verb
(If … simple past…, … would + verb)
(… would + verb … if … simple past …)
 This is used to talk about what you would do in an unlikely or
improbable situation. This conditional gives a hypothetical
condition and a probable result.

11. EXAMPLES:
1. If I _________(win) the lottery I _________ (buy) a house.
If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.
2. You________(not see) him if you ________(tell) to his parent
what really happened.
You would not see him if you told to his parent what really
happened.

12. USING CONDITIONALS IN
EXPRESSING ARGUMENTS
(THIRD CONDITIONAL)

13. Past Participle of the Verb Past Perfect
Present Past Past
Participle
buy bought bought
watch watched watched
write wrote written
see saw seen
wash washed washed
had + past
participle of the verb
had bought
had wached
had written
had seen
had washed

14. (… would have + past participle … if + past perfect)
(if + past perfect (comma)… would have + past participle)
 The third conditional describes actions that you wish you had
done differently or that something could have happened
differently if the conditions had been different.

15. Examples:
1. I__________(buy) two books if I __________ (enough) money.
I would have bought two books if I had enough money.
2. If Sheila __________(study) harder, she __________ (pass) the
examination.
If Sheila had studied harder, she would have passed the
examination.