It's a compound sentence which is used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only
happen if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled.
If I find a decent job, I will buy a new car
Types
0 Conditionals (General truths)
Imperative Conditionals
First Conditional (probable)
Second Conditional (Unlikely)
Third Conditional (Impossible)
Main Conjunctions
IF
UNLESS
0 CONDITIONALS (General truths)
If you mix yellow and red, you get orange
OTHER CONJUNCTIONS
AS LONG AS, OTHERWISE, IN CASE, OR ELSE, PROVIDED THAT
IMPERATIVE CONDITIONALS
If you drink, don't drive.
FIRST CONDITIONALS (Probable)
If you don't study hard, you will fail .
Unless you study hard, you will fail.
SECOND CONDITIONALS (Unlikely)
If I were a rich man, I would stop working
If I had lots of money, I wouldn't work
THIRD CONDITIONALS (Impossible)
If it hadn't rained so much, I would've gone to the park with mom