Conditionals
Level B2 · Conditionals
Use conditionals to talk about the result of a condition — if X (condition), then Y (result). Which type you choose depends on how real or likely the situation is: from always-true facts, to likely future plans, to imagined or impossible situations.
The four core types, from most real to most hypothetical:
- Zero — if + present, present, for things that are always true: if you heat ice, it melts.
- First — if + present, will + base verb, for a likely future: if it rains, I'll stay home.
- Second — if + past, would + base verb, for an unreal or unlikely present/future: if I won the lottery, I'd travel the world.
- Third — if + past perfect, would have + past participle, for an imagined, impossible past: if I had studied, I would have passed.
In every type, if the if-clause comes first, separate the two halves with a comma: If it rains, I'll stay home. If the result comes first, no comma: I'll stay home if it rains.
The most common mistake is putting will or would inside the if-clause — the condition uses a present or past tense, never will/would. Say if it rains (not if it will rain), and if I had known (not if I would have known); will/would belongs only in the result clause.
The trigger word is if. Unless means 'if not' and takes the same forms (unless you hurry, you'll be late = if you don't hurry…). Use when instead of if for something certain to happen (when I get home… vs if I get home…). A more advanced 'mixed' conditional pairs a past condition with a present result: if I had taken that job, I would live in Paris now.