Conditional Sentence

Conditional Sentences are also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses. They are used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled. There are three types of Conditional Sentences.

Conditional Sentence Type 1

→ It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

more on Conditional Sentences Type I ►

Conditional Sentence Type 2

→ It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

more on Conditional Sentences Type II ►

Conditional Sentence Type 3

→ It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

1.IF Clause Type 1

Form

if + Simple Present, will-Future.

(a)Example

If I find her address, I will send her an invitation.

Note : The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don’t use a comma.

(b)Example:

I will send her an invitation if I find her address.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Simple Present und will-Future on how to form negative sentences.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. An action in the future will only happen if a certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We don’t know for sure whether the condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather realistic – so we think it is likely to happen.

(a)Example:

If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

I want to send an invitation to a friend. I just have to find her address. I am quite sure, however, that I will find it.

(b)Example

If John has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.

I know John very well and I know that he earns a lot of money and that he loves Ferraris. So I think it is very likely that sooner or later he will have the money to buy a Ferrari.

2.IF Clause Type 2

→ It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form

if + Simple Past, main clause with Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)

(a)Example

à If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

Note :

1.The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don’t use a comma.

2.Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Simple Past und Conditional I on how to form negative sentences.

3.Were instead of Was

In IF Clauses Type II, we usually use ‚were‘– even if the pronoun is I, he, she or it –.

Example

If I were you, I would not do this.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type II refer to situations in the present. An action could happen if the present situation were different. I don’t really expect the situation to change, however. I just imagine „what would happen if …“

(a)Example

If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

I would like to send an invitation to a friend. I have looked everywhere for her address, but I cannot find it. So now I think it is rather unlikely that I will eventually find her address.

(b)Example

If John had the money, he would buy a Ferrari.

( I know John very well and I know that he doesn’t have much money, but he loves Ferraris. He would like to own a Ferrari (in his dreams). But I think it is very unlikely that he will have the money to buy one in the near future.)

3.IF Clause Type 3

It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

Form

if + Past Perfect, main clause with Conditional II

(a)Example

If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

Note : The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don’t use a comma.

(b)Example: I would have sent her an invitation if I had found her address.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Past Perfect and Conditional II on how to form negative sentences.

(c)Example

If I hadn’t studied, I wouldn’t have passed my exams.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type III refer to situations in the past. An action could have happened in the past if a certain condition had been fulfilled. Things were different then, however. We just imagine, what would have happened if the situation had been fulfilled.

(a)Example

If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

Here Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation to a friend. I didn’t find her address, however. So in the end I didn’t send her an invitation.

(b)Example

If John had had the money, he would have bought a Ferrari.

Here I knew John very well and I know that he never had much money, but he loved Ferraris. He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he never had the money to buy one.

Questions:

Level-I

Complete the Conditional Sentences .

If you (eat) an ice-cream, I (have) a hot chocolate.
If she (need) a computer, her brother (give) her his computer.
If we (have / not) time this afternoon, we (meet) tomorrow.
He (talk) to her if you (want / not) to do it.
You (win / not) the game if you (know / not) the rules.
If he (try) harder, he (reach) his goals.
I (buy) these shoes if they (fit) .
It (surprise / not) me if he (know / not) the answer.
If we (listen) to the radio, we (hear) the news.
If you (switch) on the lights, you (fall / not) over the chair.
She (come) to our party if she (be / not) on holiday.

Level-II

If you (wash) the dishes, I (cook) dinner tonight.
If my dad (have) time next week, we (paint) my room.
You (learn) a lot about American history if you (visit) the exhibition.
If the weather (be / not) too bad tomorrow, we (play) golf.
We (get / not) there on time if we (catch / not) the bus
If I (have) more time, I (learn) to play the guitar.
If she (study) harder, she (get) better marks.
If we (know) more about history, we (be / not) afraid of the test.
I (go) jogging with Tom and Sue if they (be) here this week.
It (surprise) me if she (help / not) you.

Answers:

Level-I

1. If you eat an ice-cream, I will have a hot chocolate.

2. If she needs a computer, her brother will give her his computer.

3. If we do not have time this afternoon, we will meet tomorrow.

4. He will talk to her if you do not want to do it.

5. You will not win the game if you do not know the rules.

6. If he tried harder, he would reach his goals.

7. I would buy these shoes if they fitted .

8. It would not surprise me if he did not know the answer.

9. If we had listened to the radio, we would have heard the news.

10. If you had switched on the lights, you would not have fallen over the chair.

11. She would have come to our party if she had not been on holiday

Level-II

12. If you wash the dishes, I will cook dinner tonight.

13. If my dad has time next week, we will paint my room.

14. You will learn a lot about American history if you visit the exhibition.

15. If the weather is not too bad tomorrow, we will play golf.

16. We will not get there on time if we do not catch the bus.

17. If I had more time, I would learn to play the guitar.

18. If she studied harder, she would get better marks.

19. If we knew more about history, we would not be afraid of the test.

20. I would go jogging with Tom and Sue if they were here this week.

21. It would surprise me if she did not help you.

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