Conditionals answer the question “what happens if…?”. English conditionals have an if-clause (the condition) and a main clause (the result), and the tense depends on how real the situation is.
Conditionals: formulas and when to use them
All the main types follow the same pattern; only the tenses change. For more on the tenses, see our posts on Present Simple and Past Simple.
- Type 0: if + Present Simple, Present Simple. General truths and habits.
- Type 1: if + Present Simple, will + verb. A real, likely situation in the future.
- Type 2: if + Past Simple, would + verb. An unreal or unlikely situation now or in the future.
- Type 3: if + Past Perfect, would have + past participle. A past situation that didn’t happen, so its result didn’t either.
Mixed conditionals combine two times. A past condition with a present result: if + Past Perfect, would + verb. A present condition with a past result: if + Past Simple, would have + past participle.
Examples
- If you mix blue and yellow, you get green.Type 0: a general truth.
- If it rains tomorrow, we’ll stay at home.Type 1: a real possibility in the future.
- If you hurry, you’ll catch the bus.Type 1: the result is likely if the condition happens.
- If we had more free time, we would travel more.Type 2: an unreal present; we don’t have the free time.
- If he were here, he would help us.Type 2: “were” is the standard form for all persons in this structure.
- If we had left earlier, we wouldn’t have missed the train.Type 3: we didn’t leave early, so we missed the train.
- If we had studied harder, we would be fluent by now.Mixed: the condition is in the past, the result is in the present.
- If she weren’t so shy, she would have spoken up at yesterday’s meeting.Mixed: the condition is a present trait, the result is in the past.
The most common mistake is putting will or would into the if-clause. Say If it rains…, not If it will rain…, and If I had time…, not If I would have time….
Check yourself
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form, then reveal the answer:
1.If it (be) sunny tomorrow, we (go) to the beach.
Answer
If it’s sunny tomorrow, we’ll go to the beach.
2.If we (have) wings, we (fly) over the sea.
Answer
If we had wings, we would fly over the sea.
3.If we (know) about the concert, we (buy) tickets.
Answer
If we had known about the concert, we would have bought tickets.
4.If water (boil) at 100 °C, steam (rise).
Answer
If water boils at 100 °C, steam rises.
Full rules, exceptions and lots of practice are in our live lessons (see the events page). Book a free trial lesson to try them in class, or test yourself first with our grammar quizzes.
