Conditional sentences

1
Conditional sentences

• Introduction
• The term conditional obviously implies the
  existence of a condition in a sentence, which
  also means that very often the word IF will be
  present in the sentence.
• Types of conditional sentences
• Depending on the level of probability of the
  condition in the sentence, we may find three
  different types of conditionals

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TYPES OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

• First conditional
• USE
• We use the first conditional to talk about
  probable situations, that is, the result of the
  condition can be part of reality.
• Example If it rains, I wont go out. (You would
  not make such a sentence in the middle of the
  Sahara Desert!)

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FIRST CONDITIONAL FORM

• The structure of a first conditional sentence
  is, in fact, the same as the Catalan structure.
  Thus, in this case, translation may help
• IF PRESENT SIMPLE // WILL INFINITIVE
• whereas in Catalan the structure is the
  following
• SI PRESENT INDICATIU // FUTUR SIMPLE

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EXAMPLES

• If we pass the exam, well go out at the weekend
  to celebrate.
• Si aprovem lexamen, sortirem a celebrar-ho.
• You wont graduate if you dont work hard.
• No tindràs el graduat si no treballes molt.

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NOTE

• When dealing with conditional sentences, there
  is an important aspect you should take into
  account
• The order of the clauses can vary, which means
  one cannot talk about the verb tenses in terms of
  first and second clause, but we should refer to
  the clauses as the one which begins with IF and
  the one that does not. That is
• If this hotel isnt clean, I wont stay in it
  I wont stay in this hotel if it isnt clean.

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activities

• Finish the following sentences

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SECOND CONDITIONAL

• We use the second conditional form when we
  speculate, when we make hypothesis about unreal
  or improbable situations. One of the best-known
  examples is the following
• If I were a richman

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SECOND CONDITIONAL FORM

• If we do not want to memorise all the structures
  of all the conditional types, there is a good way
  to remember them, that is, we learn the form of
  the first conditional and we take each verb tense
  one step further into the past
• PRESENT SIMPLE becomes PAST SIMPLE
• WILL becomes WOULD

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EXAMPLES

• If I had the answers of the exam, I would pass.
• If she were honest, she would admit it.
• They wouldnt ask for help, if they didnt need
  it.
• I would visit him if I knew where he lives.
• Sarah and Anne would never lie to you even if the
  truth were painful.

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NOTE

• If we need the verb TO BE in the IF-clause, we
  will only use the form WERE for all the persons,
  that is
• I were
• You were
• She/he/it were
• We were
• You were
• They were
• However we may hear native speakers use WAS in
  informal speech.

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ACTIVITIES

• Finish the following sentences

• If people had eyes in the backs of their heads
• If cars didnt exist..
• I would not tell him
• If I were rich
• If my best friend won the lottery
• We would kill a dog
• If we couldnt speak English
• We wouldnt go to Paris
• I would give you all my clothes
• If schools didnt exist