Well, hey there. I'm Emma from mmmEnglish.
Today we are going to go through everything you need to know about English
conditionals. We'll cover the zero conditional, the first conditional,
and mixed conditional sentences all here in this one lesson.
So there's a fair bit to cover, but by the end of this lesson,
you are going to have everything you need to know about English conditional
I've made you a complete workbook that you can download and use to practise
everything you learn in this lesson.
It's completely free so that you can study and practise to your heart's content.
Just follow the link down in the description.
But what I recommend is that you stay right here,
you get your notebook out, stay focused,
and you do your best to stay with me through the whole lesson.
I know it's long, I know it's hard,
but after that you can go and take the quiz to test what you know and also
find out which conditional sentences you might need to review and practise
again. Are you ready? Let's dive in.
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The zero conditional is also called the factual or the real conditional
because we use it to talk about truths and facts,
things that are real in the world.
We also use it to talk about habits and rules and to give
instructions that are the result of something else happening first.
So in other words, if this happens,
then this is the result. Always. Okay?
It's a fact. It's the truth. It's just how it is.
It's what happens. Let's take a closer look at what it looks like
We use the present simple in both clauses. Now,
why does it say if or when can be used in the
if clause? That's a good question. In the zero conditional,
you can use either if or when in the if clause.
And the meaning with either word is pretty similar,
but we use if when there is a chance that the action will happen,
but it might not happen as well. Okay? If it does happen,
then we know exactly what the result will be. If I work out, I feel healthier.
So I work out and the result ispretty obvious. When I do work out,
I feel healthier, I feel better about myself. It's true,
but that doesn't mean that I do it all the time, right?
especially if I don't work out. We use when we know for
sure that that action is going to happen.
We might not know exactly when it's going to happen, but we know that it will.
Okay? When I work out, I feel healthier.
So I've removed the possibility that it's not going to happen.
There's no question about it. I will work out the specific time. Doesn't matter.
We just know that it's going to happen in the future.
So it's a subtle difference. Very, very subtle.
And the same difference actually applies in the first conditional.
We can use if or when as well in the first conditional, but we'll get to that.
Back to forming the zero conditional.
Let's look at a few examples to help us do that.
When the sun sets, it gets dark.
If you leave milk out, it spoils. If the power goes out,
So these are all facts and truths right? Now,
what about this sentence. In winter it's cold.
Is it a zero conditional sentence? It's a fact.
It has the present simple verb,
but it's not a conditional sentence. Can you tell me why
We don't have two clauses? It is a fact,
but we don't have the condition and the result clause.
It's just a present simple sentence.
But what about now if it's cold, light the fire.
Now we've got a condition and the result,
and this is a good example of how the zero conditional can be used to give
and I'm using the imperative form to do that.
I'm telling you what to do, instructing you.
We also use the zero conditional to talk about rules.
Children can swim if an adult is with them,
and we use it to talk about habits. If it's hot,
I go to the beach. This is something that I usually do. It's a habit, right?
Can you see how in all of these examples that the two separate parts of the
We're stating a fact or a truth in the main clause,
but it's only possible on the condition that the if
So now we know that the zero conditional is the factual or the real
conditional. What about the first conditional?
It's also called the possible conditional. Now,
we're not talking about facts anymore,
things that are absolutely 100% true.
Now we're talking about possible future results.
They might happen, but they might not happen as well.
So can you guess when it might be useful to use the first conditional a
time when you are thinking about what's possible in the future?
We can use it to talk about predictions, superstitions plans,
promises, offers, suggestions,
There's a lot of different ways that we can use the first conditional.
So all of these things talk about what is likely to happen in the
future, a likely outcome. So in the first conditional,
we're not just using the present simple anymore, right?
Because we're talking about the future. In the if clause,
we still use a present simple verb,
but in the main clause we use the future tense. Well,
if this thing happens, then this will likely happen.
We can't be absolutely sure you think so
If you don't eat now, you'll be hungry later.
If she doesn't call, I'll be annoyed.
And just like in the zero conditional,
we can still use if or when in the if clause,
and it depends on how sure we are that something
And when tells us that we're very,
very confident that the action in the if clause is going to happen
and the result in the main clause is the most likely outcome.
When the sun sets, it will get cold.
Now, what about this sentence?
If aliens arrive on earth, I will greet them.
There is something not quite right about this sentence,
something about it sounds strange,
but it has a present simple verb
and will with the base verb following. So it looks right,
but this isn't a possible situation.
I could be unintentionally starting a debate
about the existence of alien life right here.
But this is more of a hypothetical situation.
So it would be better to use the second conditional
So we talked about the zero conditional.
We've talked about the first conditional,
but what's the difference between them and why would you choose one over the
If you leave the milk out, it spoils.
It's a trick question. They're both correct. They're both possible.
But choosing to use the zero or the first conditional
does change the meaning of the sentence a little.
we're stating a general fact. It's true, right?
In general, in life,
you know at any moment when you leave milk out of the fridge,
So I might use the zero conditional to explain to a child that milk
spoils when it's not in the fridge, right?
The child didn't know that fact beforehand.
I'm telling them so that they know in the future.
When I use the first conditional sentence,
I'm telling you about a possible outcome based on the
So it's like advice or warning about a present situation,
something that is specific. So imagine that you've just made a coffee,
you left the milk on the bench,
and then you've gone off to the living room to watch some telly.
So I'm using the first conditional now to warn you or remind you
about what might happen if you don't put the milk in the fridge.
So I'm not telling you a general life lesson or a fact about life,
you probably already know that milk spoils,
but I'm giving you a suggestion or a reminder that you
Now, let's look at a few more comparisons.
When the sun sets, it gets cold.
Compare it to: When the sun sets, it will get cold.
So I'm using the zero conditional again to talk about a general
fact,
all right? Around the world in general,
it gets colder when the sun sets.
But if you are about to leave the house
and you're wearing just a t-shirt,
and I might be a little bit worried that you're going to get cold,
then I might use the first conditional sentence
in a few hours when the sun sets,
it's probably going to get cold.
And maybe you should bring a jacket.
If she doesn't call, I'm annoyed.
If she doesn't call, I'll be annoyed.
the zero conditional is used because it's something that happens a lot, right?
She often doesn't call, and every time I'm annoyed,
every time she doesn't call, I'm annoyed.
It's a really general statement about how I
In the first conditional example though,
I'm talking about a specific phone call.
Maybe I'm waiting for a colleague to call.
I'm waiting for some information,
that I need to finish writing my report by the deadline,
and she promised to call me this afternoon.
So I'm not talking about her general calling habits.
I don't always get annoyed with her,
but I am talking about right now in this moment.
I'm worried that my colleague's not going to call,
and I'm just expressing that it's really annoying
because I'm trying to finish my report.
I hope that you're feeling a bit more confident about using
the zero and first conditional now because it's time to practise.
So what I'm going to do is I'll give you a situation
and you're going to have to write
either a zero conditional sentence
or a first conditional sentence to go with it,
whichever one you think is the most appropriate one. All right?
I want you to write your sentences in the
You're a teacher and you want to warn your students
that they need to do their homework
or tomorrow there's going to be trouble.
They're going to get in trouble, right?
So should you use the zero or the first conditional
Good. It should be the first conditional.
Now this is a warning about a specific situation,
not a general truth, because we're talking about tomorrow.
Okay? So you could say something like:
If you don't do your homework,
All right? Let's get started with this lesson.
When can you use the second conditional?
We use it in a few ways to imagine that our lives or
someone else's life is different.
We use it to ask hypothetical questions,
to give advice and to give reasons why you can't do something.
So you might have practised a little with the first two,
but the third and the fourth are both interesting and different ways to
So I'm really excited to get into those.
But let's start with number one.
We use the second conditional to talk about things in the future
that are unlikely or things that are impossible in the present. So
we use it to imagine and to dream that the present situation is
different than it really is. Now,
this could be because it's impossible now or because it's really
unlikely to become real in the future. Not completely impossible,
but unlikely. So with the second conditional, we say,
if this happened, then that would happen.
So for example, if I had enough money,
I would buy a house. If the present situation was different,
then I would do that. If I won the lottery,
this is an unlikely event in the future, right?
Because it's unlikely I'm going to win the lottery
Before we keep going with the other ways
to use the second conditional,
let's spend a little bit of time focusing on what it looks like.
Conditional sentences all have an if clause and a
main clause, which is sometimes also called the result clause,
clause occurs. It's a condition, right?
If this happens, then that happens. Now,
what exactly makes a conditional sentence
So the second conditional uses a past simple verb in the if
clause then would followed by the infinitive
she would have English friends.
No, we're talking about a hypothetical situation here, right?
So the result clause suggests what would be different
and would tells us that where imagining the result,
or she would have English friends, it's not real.
She doesn't have English friends now,
but it could happen if she lived in London.
If she lived in London, she would have English friends.
Now you can definitely make one or both clauses
negative in a second conditional sentence.
if I didn't finish my homework, I wouldn't tell my teacher.
And of course we can ask second conditional questions too,
to ask someone to imagine what they would do in a different
situation. So these situations are not real,
but it's kind of fun to ask these types of questions, right?
Really helps to keep conversations going sometimes.
What would you do if you quit your job?
If you won a million dollars? Would you travel the world?
If you only had one day in Singapore, what would you do?
See how fun these types of questions can be.
Choose one of them to answer in the comments below,
but make sure you write your answer as a full
to practise the structure. Okay?
If I only had one in Singapore, I would...
Now you can actually use could in the if clause to ask a similar
So you would be saying if you were able to or if it were
If you could travel to any country,
Now notice that when you use could in the if clause,
the verb that follows could is in the infinitive form,
And that's because it's a modal verb, right?
Standard English grammar rule. After modal verbs,
we always have the infinitive.
Now we've been talking about hypothetical situations so far,
but what are these other uses?
Because we can use the second conditional to give advice.
And if you think about it, when someone asks you for advice,
you usually try to imagine what you would do in
their situation and share that with them.
So for example. If I were you,
I'd talk to my boss before I quit my job.
Or if I were her, I'd break up with him.
Now if you're wondering why in both of those examples
I was using were with the subject I,
I'm going to talk about that in a few minutes. But lastly,
you can use the second conditional to give reasons
You've probably already noticed that English speakers are usually
quite polite to each other. Instead of just saying no,
we often try and soften our responses by explaining
And sometimes you might just want to
explain a situation a little more.
So the second conditional can really help you to do this.
if I had the money, I'd lend it to you.
I don't have to explain myself any further here.
This sentence already explains
that I don't have the money, so I can't help.
But it suggests that maybe you want to that maybe you
If I wasn't so busy, I'd invite you over for dinner,
but I am really busy so I can't invite you over.
So we've covered what the second conditional looks
but now I want to share some extra tips to help you
and to help you use it accurately.
So the first one I want to mention
is that if is a conjunction, right?
The purpose of conjunctions is to join two sentences or two
There's a really strong relationship between the two clauses
in a conditional sentence, right? They're really connected.
The if clause contains a condition and the main clause
contains the result, right? They rely on each other. Now,
you may know that with all conditional sentences
you can change the order of your clauses.
When this happens, it doesn't change the meaning,
but there is an important punctuation change
If it stopped raining, I would go for a walk.
I would go for a walk if it stopped raining.
Now the meaning in these two sentences is exactly the same.
But notice that when the main clause comes first,
we don't include that comma before the if clause.
this is really only significant if you're sitting in English exam
or you're doing academic writing.
You're going to get marked down for that type of
But generally it's not really something you
Now in spoken English, the subject and would,
they're usually contracted, I'd, you'd, she'd, he'd
it's much easier to say this type of sentence quickly and it helps
you to sound a little more relaxed as well.
very common in spoken English,
common in informal written English.
But you shouldn't be using contractions in
formal written English, right?
Just steer clear completely. Now,
one of the most interesting parts about the
second conditional is that it breaks
some standard be verb grammar rules, right?
We can actually use were instead of was with
Both of them are grammatically correct,
but I guess were is a little more formal. All right?
So we would use it in more formal situations.
Both of those sentences are the same.
If she was taller, if she were taller,
it's totally okay, were is a little more formal.
Today we're going to go a little deeper
on the first and the second conditional,
I'm going to give you lots of examples to help you
understand when to use the first and when to use the second..
Plus, I'll also be talking about how to use conditionals without if,
I know because if is the star of conditional
but actually you can use other words in place of if as well.
So I'm going to go through all of that
right here during this lesson.
what's the difference between the first conditional
So the best way to think about it is the first conditional is real.
We use it to talk about things that are possible in the future and
there's a likely chance of it happening.
So to make the first conditional, it's simple.
We use the present simple verb in our if clause and we use the
future tense will in our main clause.
So we use will along with a bare infinitive verb.
If I miss the bus, I will take a taxi.
If they lose the game, they won't go to the finals.
If you get too close to the flames, you'll get burned.
So notice that with all of these examples, these are real,
they are possible and they're likely to happen in the future.
Now, when we move to the second conditional,
we actually have to leave the real world,
the actual world behind us because although there is a
possibility of the result happening,
when we use the second conditional, it tells us that the action is
quite unlikely. So it's often called the unreal tense.
So we use the second conditional to talk about imaginary
situations in the present. So these are unreal situations,
but we also use it to talk about unlikely future outcomes as well.
So it looks like if and the past,
and then would with the bare infinitive verb
If I missed the bus, I would take a taxi.
If they lost the game, they wouldn't go to the finals.
If you got too close to the flames, you'd get burned.
These examples look pretty similar
to the first conditional examples.
So with just a couple of little edits,
we have subtly changed these results to seem less
Suddenly we've got a set of hypothetical or imaginary
but those results are unlikely to actually happen,
right? Such is the second conditional.
Many ideas can be correctly expressed in English using both the
first and the second conditional sentence structure.
But each type of sentence changes the meaning noticeably.
So you really need to be careful about which type of
sentence structure you're using. You've got to carefully choose.
So let's look at a couple of examples to help you out.
So if I missed the bus, I will take a taxi.
If I missed the bus, I would take a taxi. Now,
in the first example, this is real and possible.
It's based on an actual situation.
Just imagine that you are walking down the street quite quickly
towards the bus stop because it's actually the exact time
that the bus is supposed to arrive and there is a chance
it's pulling up at the bus stop right now,
you're hoping that it's not because
you're going to be late, otherwise right?
And you still want to make it to work on time.
But in your head, as you are walking,
you're coming up with a backup plan, right?
A plan B, here's what you're going to do.
If I miss the bus, I will take a taxi.
So this situation is based on a real life scenario,
something that is likely to happen.
There's a good chance that bus
has already come to the bus stop and you are not there.
But the second example, in the second conditional,
totally imaginary. Maybe I've got no plans at all to take the bus.
Maybe I don't even take the bus to work,
or perhaps I'm extremely punctual.
I'm almost never late to the bus.
But for whatever reason, this thing,
the outcome is very unlikely to happen,
and we know that because we're using the second conditional.
So you can see how powerful this decision is, right?
The grammar structure that you choose
influences the meaning of your sentence.
together just to make sure you've got it.
If I run out of butter, I'll just use oil. So again,
imagine that you're baking and there isn't much butter
left. You can't be bothered going to the shops. So I've got a plan.
If I run out of butter, I know what I'm going to do and this is a likely event.
If I ran out of butter, I just use oil. Now,
this is a hypothetical situation.
I'm not talking about a specific
baking event that's happening now.
I'm just talking about what I would hypothetically do if this
ever happened to me while I was baking.
I could be giving advice to someone
If I ran out of butter, I'd just use oil.
You won't notice the difference. If she finds a dog on the street,
she'll adopt it. She loves dogs, right?
She has plans to adopt a dog. In fact,
and there are lots of street dogs in her area.
that if she finds a dog on the street that doesn't have a home,
it's quite likely that she'll adopt it.
If she found a dog on the street, she'd adopt it. So again,
she loves dogs. Perhaps there's actually
not many street dogs in her area,
which makes the outcome quite unlikely.
If she were taller, she would play basketball.
So this is the second conditional, right?
what she would do if she had been born taller,
but she wasn't right? She can't change her height.
So this situation has to be unreal. So for that reason,
be careful because we can't write
a version of this in the first conditional.
There isn't a likely chance or a likely outcome
She can't change the way that she is.
However, we can make a couple of changes to make it possible.
We can say if we're talking about a child who is still growing,
then it's possible, but we might have to change the verb and say,
if she grows taller, she will play basketball.
It's really important to keep in mind that
many ideas can be expressed in the
first or the second conditional,
depending on whether they're real or imaginary.
But not all ideas can be expressed in both tenses,
right? So be careful about that real versus imaginary.
Hopefully you're starting to feel pretty good
about the difference between the
first and the second conditional, right?
But I've got one extra thing that I want you to keep in mind.
So take a look at this sentence here. Is it a conditional sentence?
It has a present tense verb. In the first clause,
it has will and the base verb in the main clause,
but it doesn't have the word if
This sentence is still a conditional sentence,
and there are a couple of very specific words that you can use to
replace if in the first and also the second
conditional sentence structure. It's still a conditional sentence,
but the word that you choose of course has the ability to
change the meaning of your sentence slightly.
Unless it rains soon the lake will dry up.
Or if it rains soon, the lake won't dry up.
Both of these sentences are okay, they're great,
the change affects the meaning of our sentence slightly.
So we need to be aware of that.
So you can definitely replace if with the word, unless,
but the meaning is slightly different. It means if not or accept if,
and you can use unless in the first
and the second conditional sentence structure.
But it can't be used to talk about past situations that can't be
changed. So you can't use unless
in the third conditional sentence structure, for example.
Unless she apologises, I will not forgive her.
Unless it gets below zero degrees, the water won't freeze.
Unless they fired me. I wouldn't leave the company.
Besides unless and if we can also use as long as,
really useful if you want to set a limit or a condition on the
So this is like saying if and only if the
condition happens. So if the condition doesn't happen,
then the result is not possible or it's not allowed as long as
is usually used with the first conditional because it's used
As long as I get time off work, I'll come for a visit.
As long as it's not too crowded, we'll stay for dinner.
As long as he finishes his homework,
he'll join you at the skate park.
Great work. We're almost done.
We've got one more option to replace if with,
and that is using supposing or
So using supposing that helps the listener to imagine
a situation. So it's really similar to using if,
but just with a bit of extra command to really tell the listener
that you want them to imagine turn on their imagination. Now,
it can be used in either the first or the second conditional,
but it's much more comfortable in the second conditional for sure,
because you're imagining, right,
supposing I can change my flight. I'll come a few days earlier.
Supposing you got a huge Christmas bonus,
Like all conditional sentences,
the third conditional has two clauses,
the if clause and the main clause.
But unlike the zero, the first and the second conditionals,
this one talks about the past and specifically an
unreal past, not a true past, an unreal one.
We use the third conditional to imagine a situation in the
past and the imaginary result,
which is also in the past. Okay? So it's imaginary. It's not real.
It's not true, okay? Because we can't change the past.
Sometimes we wish we could, but we can't.
So that's why you'll often hear the third conditional being
used to talk about regrets, things that we wish were different.
So let's look at a few examples to get started.
If I had left earlier, I wouldn't have missed my flight.
So I'm a bit upset about that, right? I'm upset I missed my flight.
I wish that I had have left my house a little bit earlier
I wish that I could go back in time and be on the plane,
but I can't because my flight's gone.
There's nothing that I can do about it now
except buy another ticket. Well,
we can use the third conditional to show how angry or how
frustrated we are about this situation right.
Now look, if you hadn't been so rude,
they would've invited you back.
Well, obviously that didn't work out well for you, did it?
Now they're not going to invite you back again in the future.
You can't go back and change it now, can you?
So I'm just going to use the third conditional. Now to tell you off,
if I hadn't been going so fast, I wouldn't have been fined.
Yeah, I got fined, which is annoying, but it's already happened.
That's something you definitely can't change.
So we use the third conditional to talk about
things that we wish we could change about the past,
and also to tell someone off for something that they did in the
past. So it's pretty useful, right?
It's a really handy structure to have up your sleeve,
to know. All right, so let's talk about what it looks like now.
So to make the third conditional, we need a few things.
We need if and the past, perfect.
and then we need the perfect conditional.
You might be wondering what the heck is the
past perfect or the perfect conditional?
the past perfect is subject with had
and the past participant verb. If I had left earlier,
if you hadn't been so rude, if I hadn't been going so
fast, okay, these are all examples of the past perfect.
Now the perfect conditional is subject
with would, have and the past participle verb.
So it's just the present, perfect with would in front of it.
I wouldn't have missed my flight.
They would have invited you back.
I wouldn't have got that ticket.
So let's put the third conditional all together.
if, the subject had and the past
participle, then our comma, very important,
would, have and the past participle.
So let's look at some examples to help it sink in a little. All right,
let's do our third conditional checks first. All right?
Are we talking about the past or the present here?
It was in the past. Did it actually happen?
No, you didn't call. So I didn't come.
I wish that I could change this because I'd love to come.
If she had replied to my message, I wouldn't have been so worried.
So I'm kind of telling her off here, right? I'm a bit frustrated.
I wish that she had so that I didn't have to worry.
If I had taken better care of myself, I wouldn't have got sick.
So I'm expressing regret about the past here.
I wish I'd taken better care of myself. Now,
you'll remember from some of my other conditional lessons
that we can actually use different modal verbs in
So we can replace would have with other modal,
So we use might have to show probability or certainty
If she'd studied more, she might have passed,
but she might have also failed again, we are not sure.
right? If we were certain about that imaginary result in the past,
then we would use would have. That's more certain.
Since we're not exactly sure about
what the result would've been,
then using might have is probably the better option. Now,
we use could have to talk about possibility and ability.
If you had lent me your car, I could have got there faster.
Now, I'm not promising that I absolutely would've.
I'm just saying that I would've been able to get there
I would have the ability to arrive sooner.
So now that we've broken it down a little bit,
how are you feeling about the third conditional?
And if you are thinking something along the lines of,
if I'd seen this video earlier, I wouldn't have been so confused.
Well, I must be doing something right.
I know that conditionals can be a little overwhelming because
of the subtle differences between all of the
different types of conditionals,
but also the significant differences in meaning.
So hopefully with each of my conditional lessons,
it's becoming a little clearer. So if you're enjoying this series,
make sure you share this lesson, like the lesson,
share it with anyone that you think will find it useful.
Mixed conditionals are exactly what they sound like,
that mixes two different times in one sentence.
Now it sounds a little tricky,
but I'm here to go over it with you and to help you practise
with me later on in this lesson. So don't worry.
If you had learned how to use mixed conditionals already,
you wouldn't need to watch this lesson. Check it out.
That is a mixed, conditional sentence.
you'll be feeling much more confident about using
mixed conditionals as you speak in English. So let's go.
If you've watched some of my previous lessons,
or perhaps you've studied conditionals at school, well,
you'll know that the zero conditional is used to talk about
The first conditional talks about a likely present situation.
The second talks about hypothetical or highly unlikely
And the third conditional is a past situation which didn't happen.
So these are all useful for talking about situations that relate to
actions in isolation in their own time.
So the third conditional relates to the past,
but mixed conditionals help you to move through time.
So a past action with a present result gets exciting.
a key idea when we use mixed conditionals is time,
but don't confuse time with verb tense. So of course,
we use different verb tenses to express different times.
But time and tense are not always the same thing.
So if we take a look at a couple of sentences,
I had a dog when I was a child.
She was cleaning all day yesterday.
So are these two sentences using the same verb tense?
This is the past simple, and this one is the past continuous.
They're not using the same tenses,
but they are referring to the same time.
They both take place in the past.
So they have the same time reference.
mixed conditionals are conditional sentences that use
They help us to move between two times.
So the if clause and the main clause in a mixed
different times that work together.
I wouldn't have missed the bus.
So both these clauses take place in the past, right?
I'm talking about this morning, yesterday morning,
or some other morning in the past, and the result that I missed,
the bus also happened in the past.
So I already missed the bus. I can't change that now.
So let's change the sentence a little to make it
To do that, we need one of the clauses to be in a different time.
So if clause is happening in the past,
so let's make our main clause about the present.
If I had woken up earlier, I would be at work already.
I wouldn't have missed the bus, so I would be at work already.
So now we've got a mixed conditional sentence.
One clause refers to a past action,
and the other refers to the present.
See, it's not as hard as you think once you break it down,
but it takes practice. So let's keep going.
There are a few different ways that we can do this.
You can mix and match several tenses and times together
to make a mixed conditional sentence.
But I want to focus on the two most common combinations.
So a past action and a present result,
which is just the example that we just looked at,
and then a present condition and a past result.
So remember in both of these sentences,
we're talking about something that's unreal. In the first,
we're talking about changing a past action and the
hypothetical present result that would happen,
but it can't happen because we can't change the past.
And in the second we imagine that the present were
different. Now it's not. But if it were,
then how would the past hypothetically have been
different as a result? It's a little confusing. I know.
Let's keep going. So to create the first one,
we need the past perfect in the if clause and the present,
conditional in the main clause.
So if this thing had happened,
If I had saved more money, I would own this house.
If you hadn't taken that job, we would be travelling together.
If they had paid more attention, they wouldn't be failing in class.
And don't that like all conditionals,
you can change the order of the if clause and the main clause.
This thing would happen if this thing had
happened. So you can swap the order of the clauses,
but all of the information is still there.
I would own this house if I had saved more money.
We still have a hypothetical past action in the if clause
and the hypothetical present result in the main clause.
The other common mixed conditional sentence
So this is an unreal present condition to imagine
what the result would've been in the past,
but we'll never really know because this is imaginary, right?
So imagine if this thing happened,
Now, all right, let's talk about this for a minute.
Because we're talking about a present condition, right?
But we're using the past simple tense in the if clause,
but that's not a real past, right?
This is how we use the second conditional to express a
hypothetical present situation. If I were more outgoing,
I would've introduced myself. If he wasn't injured,
If I wasn't so busy, I would've offered to help. Now,
you can also use this same general form to talk about a future
action and a hypothetical past result.
Now,
but you'll see how it can be a useful way of expressing yourself.
Just imagine that tomorrow you had a really important
a meeting that you've planned and you've organised
So you can't go out dancing tonight, obviously,
because you want to be well-rested and alert for this meeting.
Your boss is going to be there,
but if I didn't have an important meeting tomorrow,
If she wasn't going on holiday next month,
she would've asked for a day off.
If you weren't going on a big hike tomorrow,
would you have come on a bike ride today?
So how are you feeling about mixed conditionals now?
I always think that it's easier if you focus less on
the complicated grammar tenses
and more on the relationships with time.
And the three most commonly used mixed conditional sentences
a past action with a present result,
a present condition with a past result,
and a future action and a past result.
So now that you know all of this,
I think it's time that we practise a little together.
Phew.
Grammar lessons like this one can sometimes leave you
feeling like your brain has completely turned to mush,
but don't let conditional sentences scare you. Of course,
it will take time and it will take effort to understand
work and how to use them accurately,
Keep the time and the tenses in mind. If you're reading a book,
highlight a conditional sentence that you read,
and then just think about it for a moment.
Try to understand how the two clauses relate to each other.
And don't forget that I've created the complete
conditionals workbook so you can start to think about and use
I hope that you enjoyed this lesson and that you found it useful.