Conditional If

CONDITIONAL IF

 

We use "conditional if sentences" in three conditions or in three types:

 

Type 1 (possible real condition)

For examples:

• If I get the first salary, I will give 75% of my salary to my mom.

• I will treat my friends if I have bonus from my boss.

Type 2 (present unreal condition)

In this condition, we use "conditional if" to indicate the situation which is contrary to the reality in present time.

For examples:

Conditional If	Present Reality
If I were the rich, I would build the school for the poor	I am not rich, so I can’t build it
I would come to Elga’s house if I knew her address	I don’t know Elga’s address, so I can’t come to her house
If I had much money, I would bring my friends to watch the movie “2012”	I don’t have any money. I can’t bring my friends to watch that film

 

Type 3 (past unreal condition)

In this condition, we use "conditional if" to indicate the situation which is contrary to the reality in past time

For Instances:

Conditional If	Past Reality
I would have got the best score in English test last week if I had studied more seriously	I had the bad score as I didn’t study seriously
If he had driven his car carefully, the accident wouldn’t have happened last month	The accidenthappened last month because hedrove carelessly

 

The pattern of Conditional If:

Type 1 =	If	Verb1, …………	Will	Verb1
Type 2 =	If	Verb2, …………	Would	Verb1
Type 3 =	If	Had Verb3,……	Would Have	Verb3

 

The changes in tenses:

	Reality		Conditional If
Type 1 =	-	-	-
Type 2 =	In the form of “present”	-	In the form of “past”
Type 3 =	In the form of “past”	-	In the form of “past perfect”

 

Notes:

• The position of "IF" can be the first clause or in the second clause

• Conditional type 2, for nominal sentence, never uses "was", but always "were"

• Conditional type 2 can also be used to express "advice or suggestion"