Conditional II
Type 2 conditional sentences talk about situations that are hypothetical. There is a possibility that the condition will be fulfilled.
What Are Second Conditionals?
Conditional sentences talk about hypothetical, imaginary, or unlikely situations in the present or future. These situations may become real, but it is rare.
Conditional II: Structure
The structure of second conditionals is:
If + condition + result:
If + past simple tense + conditional tense (would/could/should + base form of verb)
If I
In reality, the speaker is not rich. But with use of second conditional, the speaker is talking about imagining having a lot of money.
If I
In the present, the speaker does not have a son. It is possible for them to someday have a son.
Punctuation
If the 'if clause' comes first (at the beginning of the sentence) do not forget to put a comma (,) after it.
If she
If you begin your sentence with the main clause, you do not need to put a comma between the two clauses.
She
Conditional II: Verb Tenses
As we mentioned earlier, second conditionals talk about hypothetical situations in the present and future. But the if clause always has the past simple tense. Why?
Because the past tense is not showing the past time. It is showing a distance from reality.
Conditional II
Conditional Tenses
Conditional tenses are used to create the main clause of a conditional sentence, which expresses hypothetical or unlikely situations. Modal verbs like could, would, should and might are examples of conditional verbs. Each of these modals indicates a certain meaning. Check these examples:
If I had 100$, I
It is unlikely that the speaker will buy that handbag. But it is certain that if she had 100$ she would absolutely buy that bag.
If I had 100$, I
It is unlikely that the speaker will buy that handbag. But it is not certain that IF she had 100$ she would absolutely get that bag. Maybe she would not buy that.
If I had 100$, I
It is unlikely that the speaker will buy that handbag. But it is definitely a possibility that IF she had 100$ she would be able to buy it.
Conditional II: the 'Be' Verb
The past tense of the verb 'be' in the normal case or an indicative mood is conjugated into two forms:
Was and Were
But in the subjunctive mood, the past form of 'be' is 'were' for all persons and numbers.
If I
As you can see, we use subjunctive mood.
If I
This is wrong. If you want to state a second conditional, you should use 'were' instead of 'was'.
First vs. second Conditionals
Second conditional indicates a hypothetical situation, but first conditional indicates a real promise and a situation that has a chance of actually happening. Compare these two sentences:
If I
This sentence is a second conditional. Therefore, this situation is imaginary, unlikely or not possible. The speaker is probably a student dreaming.
If I
This sentence is a first conditional. This situation is more real. It can happen. The speaker is perhaps a real doctor who has studied cancer treatment for a while.
Note that 'if I become' and 'if I became' both refer to the present or the future. The simple past tense here does not indicate a time in the past.
Review
Conditional sentences are used to indicate that the action in the main clause (the sentence without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the if clause) is met. Type 2 conditionals talk about hypothetical situations in the present and future.
Structure
Here is the structure:
| if clause | always in past tense |
| main clause | using modals like: could, would, should and might |
If I
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