Conditional II for intermediate learners
Type 2 conditional sentences talk about situations that are hypothetical. There is a possibility that the condition will be fulfilled.
What Are Second Conditionals?
The second conditional is used to talk about an unreal situation in which the result is unlikely to happen now or in the future. Just like the other hypothetical statements, it includes an 'if clause' plus a 'main clause'.
Structure
The structure of the second conditional is:
(Dependent clause) 'if' and simple past tense + (main clause) conditional tense (would/could/should + base form of the verb)
If I
If I
The "Be" Verb
The verb to be normally has two forms when used in the past tense which are:
- 'Was' (this one is used for first person and third-person singular)
- 'Were' (this one is used for second person singular and all forms of plural)
In this structure, note that we use 'were' for all singular and plural pronouns. Look at the examples below:
If
If
Punctuation
When the 'if clause' is at the beginning of the sentence, make sure to add a comma ma to the statement.
When the 'if clause' comes after the result clause, make sure you do not add any commas to the sentence.
They would live in Africa
Warning!
The verb tense in the 'if clause' in this condition is always past tense, but it does not mean that it happened in the past; it shows the unreal and imaginary situation.
Uses
This type of conditional statement is used when we want to talk about an impossible event, or an unreal and imaginary situation or idea that is not likely to happen.
If I
If we
First Conditional vs. Second Conditional
The first conditional is used to state a possible, real event that will likely happen now or in the future, while the second conditional is only used when we want to talk about an unreal, hypothetical situation that is unlikely to happen.
If they
If you
Also, note that we only use the simple present and present continuous forms in the first conditional sentences, but we use simple past tense plus modals in the second conditional statements.
If I
Here you can see that this is about a real-life event.
If I
As you can see, here we are talking about an unreal situation.