Zero Conditional Structure

Possible future events that depend on other events

• 
  If I finish my homework, I will do well on the test.
  
• 
  If I work late tomorrow, I won’t eat dinner.
  
• 
  We will have the picnic inside if it rains tomorrow.
  
• 
  I will go to the beach this weekend if it is warm.
  

Second Conditional Structure

If

+

Simple Past,

+

Modal Verb,would

+

Base Verb

 

This conditional uses simple past, but it’s not about the past. That can be difficult to think about. However, the key difference is “if”. When you see if plus the simple past, you know it’s hypothetical (not real). Think about the difference between these examples:

• 
  I had a bicycle.
  
• 
  If I had a bicycle…
  

The first sentence is a statement about having something in the past. You had a bicycle. Maybe it was last week or 20 years ago. It’s in the past. The second sentence is not real.

• 
  If I had a bicycle, I would ride it in the park.
  

You don’t have a bicycle. You don’t ride it in the park. That’s the idea of the second conditional: it’s not real.

Let’s look at some more examples:

Examples:

• 
  If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.
  
• 
  If she studied more often, she would receive better test scores.
  
• 
  I would wear the blue shoes if I were you.
  
• 
  They would watch more movies if they had time.
  

Negative

• 
  If I did not work, I would watch TV all day.
  
• 
  If I won the lottery, I would not buy a car.
  
• 
  I would not work if I had more money.
  
• 
  I would sleep late every day if I didn’t work early.
  

 Questions

• 
  What would you do if you were me?
  
• 
  If you had $1,000, what would you buy?
  
• 
  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live?
  
• 
  Who would you like to meet, if you could meet anyone?