Conditional Sentence

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.

1. If Caroline and Sue prepare the salad, Phil will decorate the house.
2. If Sue cuts the onions for the salad, Caroline will peel the mushrooms.
3. Jane will hoover the sitting room if Aaron and Tim move the furniture.
4. If Bob tidies up the kitchen, Anita will clean the toilet.
5. Elaine will buy the drinks if somebody helps her carry the bottles.
6. If Alan and Rebecca organise the food, Mary and Conor will make the sandwiches.
7. If Bob looks after the barbecue, Sue will let the guests in.
8. Frank will play the DJ if the others bring along their CDs.
9. Alan will mix the drinks if Jane gives him some of her cocktail recipes.
10. If they all do their best, the party will be great.
11. If you send this letter now, she will receive it tomorrow. 
12. If I do this test, I will improve my English. 
13. If I find your ring, I will give it back to you. 
14. Peggy will go shopping if she has time in the afternoon. 
15. Simon will go to London next week if he gets a cheap flight. 
16. If her boyfriend does not phone today, she will leave him. 
17. If they do not study harder, they will not pass the exam. 
18. If it rains tomorrow, I will not have to water the plants. 
19. You will not be able to sleep if you watch this scary film. 
20. Susan cannot move into the new house if it is not ready on time. 

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.

1. If I played the lottery, I would have a chance to hit the jackpot.
2. If I hit the jackpot, I would be rich.
3. If I were rich, my life would change completely.
4. I would buy a lonely island, if I found a nice one.
5. If I owned a lonely island, I would build a huge house by the beach.
6. I would invite all my friends if I had a house by the beach.
7. I would pick my friends up in my yacht if they wanted to spend their holidays on my island.
8. We would have great parties if my friends came to my island.
9. If we liked to go shopping in a big city, we would charter a helicopter.
10. But if my friends' holidays were over, I would feel very lonely on my lonely island.
11. If we had a yacht, we would sail the seven seas. 
12. If he had more time, he would learn karate. 
13. If they told their father, he would be very angry. 
14. She would spend a year in the USA if it were easier to get a green card. 
15. If I lived on a lonely island, I would run around naked all day. 
16. We would help you if we knew how. 
17. My brother would buy a sports car if he had the money. 
18. If I felt better, I would go to the cinema with you. 
19. If you went by bike more often, you would not be so flabby. 
20. She would not talk to you if she were mad at you. 

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 the midfielders had passed the ball more exactly, our team would have had more chances to attack.
2. If the forwards had run faster, they would have scored more goals.
3. Their motivation would have improved if they had kicked a goal during the first half.
4. The fullbacks would have prevented one or the other goal if they had marked their opponents.
5. If the goalie had jumped up, he would have caught the ball.
6. If the referee had seen the foul, he would have awarded a penalty kick to our team.
7. Our team would have been in better form if they had trained harder the weeks before.
8. The game would have become better if the trainer had sent a substitute in during the second half.
9. If it had been a home game, our team would have won the match.
10. If our team had won the match, they would have moved up in the league.

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1. If it doesn't rain, we can go swimming tomorrow.
2. If you train hard, you might win first prize.
3. If we go to Canada next year, we can improve our English.
4. I may go to the disco in the evening if I do the washing-up now.
5. If we go on holiday next week, I cannot play tennis with you.
6. If you see Gareth tomorrow, you should tell him that you love him.
7. If my parents go shopping in the afternoon, I must look after my little sister.
8. He must be a good drummer if he plays in a band.
9. If you are listening to the radio after 10 pm, you should turn the volume down.
10. If you like that shirt, you can have it.
11. If it is still raining, stay here for another while.
12. If it has stopped raining, we will go .
13. If it starts raining, we always close the windows.
14. If it should rain, please close the windows.
15. If it rains, the windows must be closed .
16. I am trying to reach Sue on the phone now, but I'm afraid she is not there because …
    If she were at the office, she would answer the phone.
17. A couple of minutes ago, I tried to reach Sue on the phone, but I'm afraid she is not there because …
    If she were at the office, she would have answered the phone.
18. I want to ring a friend now, but I don't know his phone number.
    If I knew his phone number, I would ring him.
19. A week ago, I wanted to ring a friend, but I don't know his phone number.
    If I knew his phone number, I would have rung him.
20. A friend tells me what she is planning to do. I don't think what she is planning is a good idea.
    If I were you, I would not do this.
21. A friend tells me what she did. I don't think what she did was a good idea.
    If I were you, I would not have done this.
22. Somebody tells me that Sarah is on holiday in Italy at the moment. This cannot be true because I'm seeing her in town tonight.
    If Sarah were in Italy, I would not see her in town tonight.
23. Somebody tells me that Sarah is on holiday in Italy at the moment. This cannot be true because I saw her in town last night.
    If Sarah were in Italy, I would not have seen her in town last night.
24. My brother feels like he is getting the flu. I tell him …
    You would not get the flu if you ate more fruit.
25. A few weeks ago, my brother had the flu. I tell him …
    You would not have got the flu if you ate more fruit.
26. It didn't rain yesterday. So I had to water the plants yesterday.
    If it had rained yesterday, I would not have watered the plants.
27. It didn't rain yesterday. So I am watering the plants now.
    If it had rained yesterday, I would not water the plants now.
28. I went to bed late last night. So I am still tired now.
    If I had gone to bed earlier yesterday, I would not feel so tired now.
29. I went to bed late last Tuesday. So I was very tired the following day.
    If I had gone to bed earlier that Tuesday, I would not have felt that tired the following day.
30. After a night out, I want to drive home now. I haven't drunk any alcohol.
    If I had drunk alcohol, I would not drive.
31. After a night out last weekend, I drove home. I hadn't drunk any alcohol.
    If I had drunk alcohol, I would not have driven.
32. We won the match last week. So when we came home, we looked really happy.
    We would not have looked that happy if we had not won the match.
33. We've just won a match. So we look really happy now.
    We would not look that happy if we had not won the match.
34. My daughter is blamed for having done something. She tells me now that she didn't do it. I believe her.
    She would tell me if she had done it.
35. Last year, my daughter was blamed for having done something. She told me that she hadn't done it. I believed her.
    She would have told me if she had done it.

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Conditionals or "On Condition"
This story is a review of the Conditionals. As you remember there are 4 types of conditional. Can you identify them in the following sentences?

• If you squeeze an icicle in your hands it melts.
• If it rains tomorrow we will stay at home.
• If I were a millionaire I would share the money with you.
• If you hadn't called me last night I would have slept peacefully.

Now read the story and try to find out which of the condidtionals are initalics and why.

"On Condition"

If someone had told me when I was at school, I would not have believed it. If I tell people today, they say they have not heard of it. Of course it was a long time ago. But it is true: if you were 18, you had to do something called national service. If you were reasonably fit — could stand up, walk about, sit down and then stand up again and not fall over — you would have to report to a military barracks near where you lived. If I had taken the trouble to think about the practical side of the matter, I could have chosen a different service. There were after all the navy and the airforce. The navy wasn't very likely unless you had had dozens of uncles and grandparents in the service before you. In my case this didn't apply at all. The airforce somehow appealed. I liked the idea of tearing through the skies away from it all. If Ithink about it now, I just can't imagine why I liked the idea especially since flying for me today is a total nightmare. It probably came from Great Aunt Mary - she wasn't that big but she had acquired the title "great" because she'd been alive for so long. Anyhow she used to say: "If you really do your national service, you'll probably be a pilot. I can just see you sitting in a nice aeroplane." Of course if you objected to any type of violence against your fellow man, you could always object — officially I mean. If you thought along those lines, you were called a "conscientious objector" and you had toappear before a special tribunal and explain your reasons. Again you wouldprobably be exempt from military service if you came from a long line of conscientious objectors. In that case you would work in a hospital for two years as a porter. But then my family didn't do a lot of objecting. I came from an ancestral background who generally agreed with the majority. We didn't like to make a fuss. The general philosophy that prevailed was: "If Iwere you dear, I'd get on with it." On top of that I wasn't very conscientious either. We had a black sheep in the family of course. He telephoned me shortly before my 18th birthday and said: "If you really want to get out of doing national service, I'll help you all I can. If I were you, I'd do what I'm doing." His idea was to live abroad until he was 26 and then come home. It seemed a bit extreme to me. If he'd known what happened in the end, hewould have done it here because he got caught for military service in the other country where he was living!

For those few months after I was 18 I was like a cat on a hot tin roof. If the telephone rang, I would jump in the air. If the postman arrived late, Icouldn't relax until he had delivered the post and I had checked every item. My parents said to me one morning: "If you don't relax, you'll end up having a nervous break down. If the post does come, there's, nothing you can do about it. If I were, you ... " but I didn't listen to the rest of the sentence because a thought had come into my mind. Supposing I were, mad, supposing I didn't know, who I was, supposing I pretended, that I didn't understand a word anybody was saying - surely the Queen wouldn't want, a madman in her army. I tried it for a few days but it was too much like hard work. You can imagine the comments: "If you're, trying to get out of conscription by pretending to be barmy, just forget, it because it isn't working ... if you honestly imagine, that your mother and I are taken in by this stupid behaviour then you are, very much mistaken. I can only repeat if I were you ..." Time passed slowly and I began to think that If I kept quiet about it, maybe the army would forget about me.

One bright autumn day in September after a particularly good night's sleep I strolled downstairs and saw what I took to be a postcard. A card from a late holiday maker perhaps? It wasn't. It was a card informing me that I had to report to H.M. Tower of London and giving me permission to travel there by underground - one-way only of course. And that's how I came to spend the first part of my national service in the Tower. Nobody now believes me if I tell them I was there for three months but then I still havethe emotional scars to prove it. They tell me that if you want to visit the Tower as a tourist nowadays, it is quite expensive. I haven't been back. I think three months is long enough if you want to get to know a place. There are other places of interest near the City of London. Now, if I were you ...