Conditional clauses

Conditionals

- statements in which we discuss known factors or hypothetical situations and their consequences - there are four types: zero, first, second, third - a complete conditional sentence contains: conditional clause or if-clause the consequence                   

Zero conditional

IF + PRESENT,      PRESENT If water boils, it evaporates.   - the result will always happen - it is always true

First conditional

IF + PRESENT,     WILL+ THE INFINITIVE OF THE VERB If I know anything before Thursday, I will let you know.   - it describes particular situation which may happen in the future - it describes possible things which could easily come true  

Second conditional

IF + PAST,      WOULD + THE INFINITIVE OF THE VERB If I knew the answer, I would tell you. (But I don´t know it.)   - we talk about things in the future that are probably not going to happen or to be true - we wish they were true, but it is impossible  

Third conditional

IF + PAST PERFECT,    WOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE If I had known all the answers, I wouldn´t have failed in the exam. (But I didn´t know them.)   - we talk about the past - we use it to describe a situation that didn´t happen - we only imagine the result of this situation

Unless = if not

If you don´t apologise, I won´t go out with you.   Unless you apologise, I won´t go out with you.

• Conditionals
• Conditionals
• Conditionals