Zero Conditional for intermediate learners
'If you don't eat or drink, you die'. 'If you heat water, it boils'. Zero conditional is used to talk about facts or situations which are always true.
What Is Zero Conditional?
In zero conditional mood, we talk about general truths, which means things that always happen under certain conditions.
Structure
A zero conditional sentence consists of two clauses:
In each clause of a zero conditional, we use the simple present tense.
Punctuation
When the 'if' clause comes first, we usually use a comma. When the 'if' clause comes second, there is no need for a comma.
You get a cold
Uses
The zero conditional is used to state a general statement, a scientific fact, or any kind of truth in the real world.
- A general statement:
As you can see, both tenses are simple present and there is no need for auxiliary verbs or modals.
The streets are dangerous
- A scientific fact:
Your mental health declines