Conditionals

Zero conditional shows a fact, a universal truth, or a habit or regular event. These are things that always happen whenever the condition is there. That is why it is also called the factual conditional.

✔ If we freeze water, it expands. (a fact)
✔ If you heat ice, it melts.
✔ If I boil water, it evaporates.
✔ If a few drops of lemon are put into the milk, it turns sour.
✔ If it rains, we go to school by bus. (a habit)

[[parse: CONJ=If | S=we | V=freeze | O=water | S=it | V=expands]]

Fact or prediction? This is the question to ask. If you heat ice, it melts: nobody doubts this, so it is a fact and both clauses stay in the present indefinite. Compare If I drop this glass, it will break. That is only a prediction, because a mattress may be lying below. Facts belong here; predictions go to the first conditional.

In a zero conditional, if can be replaced by when, whenever or every time, and the meaning becomes even clearer. All four sentences below mean the same.

✔ If it rains, we go to school by bus.
✔ When it rains, we go to school by bus.
✔ Whenever it rains, we go to school by bus.
✔ Every time it rains, we go to school by bus.

> In it turns sour the main clause may sometimes be seen with will (it will turn sour), but the present indefinite is the better and safer choice.

First conditional is about a real possibility in the present or the future. The condition may or may not happen, and the result is a prediction. That is why it is also called the predictive conditional.

✔ If you study well, you will pass.
✔ If I drop this glass, it will break.
✔ If India wins this match, they will win the series.
✔ If it rains tomorrow, we will go to school by bus.
✘ If it will rain, we will go to school by bus. (use rains)
✘ If you will bring a letter of introduction, I will consider your request. (use bring)

[[parse: CONJ=If | S=you | V=study | A=well | S=you | HV=will | MV=pass]]

Prediction, not fact. If you study well, there is every chance that you will pass, but it is not a fact. Someone may study well and still fail. That one doubt is enough to take the sentence out of the zero conditional.

[[say:radhika| If surely is written in the main clause, does the prediction become a fact?]]

[[say:sir| No. Surely only shows how sure the speaker feels. The result still depends on things nobody can promise. A fact is something that happens every single time, like ice melting.]]

No will in the if clause. Shall and will go with the main clause, never with the if clause. The future meaning of the if clause is carried by the present indefinite. In the main clause will is used more, shall less, and can or may are also possible.

✔ If you work hard, you can pass the exam.
✔ If you work hard, you may pass the exam.
✔ If I join a software company, I will get a good deal of experience.

Imperative in the main clause. A first conditional can end in an order, a request or a piece of advice.

✔ If you meet her, ask her about my book.
✔ If you see him, tell him about me.
✔ If you see him, don't tell him about me.

Other present tenses in the if clause. Instead of the present indefinite, the if clause can also take the present continuous, the present perfect or the present perfect continuous, whenever the meaning needs it.

✔ If it is raining, we will stay at home. (present continuous)
✔ If you have finished your work, you can go home. (present perfect)
✔ If she has been working since morning, she will be tired. (present perfect continuous)

Second conditional shows imagination, unreality or improbability in the present or the future. It describes something that is not true now, or is very unlikely to happen. That is why it is also called the hypothetical conditional. Hypothetical simply means unreal.

✔ If I went to Mumbai, I would meet Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.
✔ If I were rich, I would travel the world.
✔ If I were rich, I would share my wealth.
✔ If she left now, she would reach the station on time.
✔ If you studied for the test, you could pass.

[[parse: CONJ=If | S=I | V=were | C=rich | S=I | HV=would | MV=travel | O=the world]]

Why unreal? In If I were rich, I would travel the world, the speaker is not rich. So where will the travelling come from? The condition is imaginary, so the result is imaginary too. This is the main principle of conditionals: a real condition gives a real result, an unreal condition gives an unreal result.

The second form tells us it is unreal. The if clause takes V2 (or were). The V2 here does not point to the past. It only marks the situation as imaginary. Look at the time of the sentence: If she left now means if she were to leave right now, which is the present.

No would in the if clause. Would, could and might belong to the main clause only.

✘ If you would study for the test, you could pass. (would cannot sit in the if clause)
✔ If you studied for the test, you could pass.

Were with every subject. In an unreal condition we use were with I, he, she, it and with all other subjects. If I was you is wrong because the reality is I am not you.

✘ If I was you, I would not sign the document.
✔ If I were you, I would not sign the document.
✔ If I were he, I would tell the truth. (also unreal)

[[say:radhika| Is was then never used after if?]]

[[say:sir| Was is fine in a real past condition: If he was there, he saw everything. But the moment something that is not true is imagined, was has to give way to were.]]

Third conditional shows a past condition that is unreal, imaginary or improbable, and the regrets that come with it. Since we are talking only about unreal events, it is also called the counterfactual conditional, meaning against the facts.

✔ If she had come yesterday, we would have gone to watch a movie.
✔ If I had had money, I could have helped you that day.
✔ If he had studied, he would have passed.
✔ If I had known the conference was postponed, I would have cancelled my flight reservations.
✔ If she had gone to the party, she could have met Amit.

[[parse: CONJ=If | S=she | HV=had | MV=come | A=yesterday | S=we | HV=would have | MV=gone | O=to watch a movie]]

Think of the facts. If he had studied, he would have passed tells us that he did not study and he did not pass. The condition did not happen in the past, so the result did not happen either. Nothing can be changed now, which is why this conditional is full of regret.

Both clauses look backwards. The if clause takes the past perfect (had + V3). The main clause takes would / could / might + have + V3. If the if clause is had + V3, a result like would tell or will be will not match. Would and will are also not allowed inside the if clause. The exception is a result about now: then the mixed pattern (would + V1) is right, as the next concept shows.

Note on had had. When the main verb of the if clause is have, you get had had: the first had is the helping verb and the second is V3 of have (If I had had money, I could have helped you).

✘ If you had spoken to my mother, she would tell you where I was. (use would have told)
✔ If you had spoken to my mother, she would have told you where I was.
✘ If he did not dress my wound that day, I would have died. (use had not dressed)
✔ If he had not dressed my wound that day, I would have died.

Mini example. If he ___ harder, he would have passed the exam. The result is would have passed, a past result. So the condition is also past, and the blank takes had studied.

In the first three conditionals the two clauses sit in the same time frame. A mixed conditional joins two of them: the condition belongs to one time and the result belongs to another. It is used in two situations.

1. A past unreal condition, a present result. If he hadn't helped me, I wouldn't be here today. The helping was in the past, but the result is true today.

✔ If he hadn't helped me, I wouldn't be here today. (condition = past, result = present)
✔ If he had taken the medicine, he would be fine now.
✔ If the car hadn't broken down, we would be at the office now.
✔ If I had not met her, I would be happy today.

2. An always-unreal condition, a past result. If she were my sister, she would have helped me yesterday. She is not my sister and never can be, so the condition is always unreal. But the help we are imagining would have happened yesterday.

✔ If she were my sister, she would have helped me yesterday. (She can never be my sister.)
✔ If I were you, I would not have appeared for the entrance exam.

The shortcut matrix. Do not memorise sentences. Look at the two halves separately, because their times can be different.

This is the same test as before: when is the condition? When is the result? If both are in the past, it is the third conditional. If both are present, it is the second. If they differ, it is a mixed conditional.

> Mixed conditionals are asked less often than the first three, but a student must know them. Such a sentence can then be solved by simply reading the time words: yesterday needs have + V3, now and today need a plain V1 after would.

An inverted conditional uses inversion in the condition clause. Whenever a conditional sentence is inverted, the conjunction if is dropped and the helping verb (should, were, had) is moved to the front of the sentence, before the subject.

Inversion in a conditional sentence is done in only three cases. Each case belongs to one conditional.

First conditional
✔ If I meet her, I will tell her about you. (Normal)
✔ Should I meet her, I will tell her about you. (Inversion)
✔ If I should meet her, I will tell her about you. (more formal)

Second conditional
✔ If I were a bird, I would fly in the sky. (Normal)
✔ Were I a bird, I would fly in the sky. (Inversion)

Third conditional
✔ If I had been there, I would have told you everything. (Normal)
✔ Had I been there, I would have told you everything. (Inversion)

[[parse: HV=Had | S=I | MV=been | A=there | S=I | HV=would have | MV=told | O=you everything]]

The meaning does not change. The inverted sentence says exactly what the if sentence says. Only the style changes: it is more formal and is found in written English and in the exam.

Only three helping verbs. Should, were and had can start an inverted condition. If the if clause has a plain V2 (If I went), nothing can be moved, so it cannot be inverted. After the opener, keep the rest in the normal form: after Had + sub the verb is V3, and not comes after the subject.

✔ Had he not helped me, I would have failed.
✔ Were I not tired, I would join you.
✔ Should you not agree, tell me.
✘ Had I knew the answer, I would have raised my hand. (use known)
✘ Went I to Mumbai, I would meet Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. (a V2 cannot be moved)

Writing the condition from the result. When a sentence has no if and starts with Had he ... or Were I ..., work backwards. The result indicates the type: would have + V3 means the opener is Had + sub + V3, and would + V1 with an imagined situation means Were + sub.

Were + subject + to + V1: a distant or unlikely future. Were he to apologise, she would forgive him. This opener imagines something that may happen later, and it goes with would + V1. It does not go with a result in the past. If the result is in the past (could have been averted, would have failed), the condition must be a past condition, and the opener is Had + subject + V3.

✔ Were he to apologise, she would forgive him.
✘ Were he to have responded promptly, the crisis could have been averted. (use Had he responded)
✔ Had he responded promptly, the crisis could have been averted.

Stative verbs do not take the continuous form. Verbs of state such as know, believe, understand, want, like, own are not used with *-ing*. So after Had we write known, never been knowing.

✘ Had he been knowing about the changes, he would not have proceeded with the deal. (use Had he known)
✔ Had he known about the changes, he would not have proceeded with the deal.

The negative: not comes after the subject. In the inverted conditional we write Had he not helped me. The contracted form Hadn't he helped me is not used here.

✔ Had she not warned us, we would have been lost.
✘ Hadn't she warned us, we would have been lost.

Unless and until both carry a negative idea inside them. That is why, in the exam, neither of them takes a second not in its own clause. Students lose marks when they put a second not or a will into the clause.

✔ Unless you prepare well, you will fail. (= If you do not prepare well, you will fail.)
✔ Unless you run fast, you cannot catch the bus.
✘ Unless you do not run fast, you cannot catch the bus. (remove do not)
✔ I will wait here until she comes.
✔ I cannot set up my business until I get the loan.
✘ Until I do not get the loan, I cannot set up my business. (remove do not)
✔ Wait until Monday. (until as a preposition)

Unless = if ... not. Unless you prepare well means If you do not prepare well. The negative is already inside unless, so the verb after it stays positive, in the present indefinite.

Until = as long as ... not. Until I get the loan means as long as I do not get the loan. It marks the point of time up to which something does not happen. It also needs a positive verb after it.

> Until normally takes no not, but a genuinely negated endpoint is possible (Wait until it is not raining). In SSC exams the error is the unnecessary not, so check the logic before deleting it.

✔ Unless you pay the fee, you cannot sit for the exam. (the condition: no fee, no exam)
✔ You cannot sit for the exam until you pay the fee. (the time: not before the fee is paid)

No not, no will. The clause that comes with unless or until takes neither not nor will / shall / would. The main clause is free to take will.

> Unless clauses are condition clauses and until clauses are time clauses. For the future, both use the present indefinite (unless you invite him, until my boss arrives). The sentence I will not be able to leave until my boss arrived is wrong for the same reason.

If and in case often confuse us. Some students think they are alternatives to each other, but that is not true. They tell two different stories.

✔ Take an umbrella in case it rains. (Take the umbrella first, because it may rain later.)
✔ Open the umbrella if it rains. (First it rains, then the umbrella is opened.)
✔ I will take a sweater in case it gets cold.
✔ If it gets cold, I will wear my sweater.
✘ I will take a sweater in case it will get cold. (use gets)

Read the order of events. In Open the umbrella if it rains, the rain comes first and the umbrella follows, so if is right: it is a condition. In Take an umbrella in case it rains, the umbrella is taken before the rain, because it may rain later. The clause with in case only gives the reason for being careful. This is a precaution.

Tense after in case. Like a time or a condition clause, a clause with in case uses the present indefinite for the future, not will.

But for. In formal English, but for is used in conditional sentences in the sense of without. It is followed by a noun, and the rest of the sentence is the result clause. All three sentences below mean the same.

✔ Without your help, I would not have got any job.
✔ If it had not been for your help, I would not have got any job.
✔ But for your help, I would not have got any job.

But for can refer to the past (the result is would not have + V3) or to the present (the result is would + V1): But for your help, I would be lost.

Implied conditions. Sometimes the condition is not written with if or unless at all. A word like otherwise (or or, or else) carries it. The sentence with otherwise has the same meaning as the normal conditional.

✔ My parents gave me money, otherwise I couldn't have bought a car. (implied condition)
✔ If my parents hadn't given me money, I couldn't have bought a car. (normal conditional)
✔ Switch off the air conditioner or you will catch a cold. (= If you do not switch it off, you will catch a cold.)

Reduction of the clause. A complete if clause can sometimes be reduced to just a word or two, if the meaning stays clear. The subject and the verb be are dropped.

✔ I will work late at night, if it is necessary.
✔ I will work late at night, if necessary.
✔ If you are in doubt, ask for help.
✔ If in doubt, ask for help.

If so, if not. When a clause would only repeat what has just been said, we use if so (positive) or if not (negative) in its place.

✔ I hope you are free today. If you are not free, we can meet some other day.
✔ I hope you are free today. If not, we can meet some other day.
✔ I hope you are free today. If you are free, we can meet today.
✔ I hope you are free today. If so, we can meet today.

Every conditional question in the exam can be solved with the same five steps. This is the way to read a sentence before looking at the options.

• Step 1. Find the type of condition: a fact, a prediction, an unreal present or an unreal past?
• Step 2. Look into the if clause for will / shall / would. If you find one, it is wrong (the same goes for unless and until).
• Step 3. Pull out the time of the condition and the time of the result separately. Their match is the most repeated test.
• Step 4. If the main clause has would, decide whether the result is unreal or only a polite request.
• Step 5. If there is a regret or an imagination, ask at what time the regret lies and at what time the action lies.

Would like is not unreal. Would like is a polite way of asking. If you have finished your book, I would like to borrow it. Finishing the book comes first and borrowing comes after, so the earlier action takes the present perfect. Nothing here is imaginary, so do not push the sentence into had finished.

✔ If you have finished your book, I'd like to borrow it. (would like is a polite request)
✘ If you will finish your book, I'd like to borrow it. (no will in the if clause)
✔ If she left now, she would reach the station on time. (an unreal present: she is not leaving)

Match the times. If the condition looks at the past, the result must look at the past too (would have + V3). The method for error spotting is simple: when two parts offer would tell and would have told, read the whole sentence once and identify the time of the condition first.

✘ If you had spoken to my mother, she would tell you where I was. (use would have told)
✘ If I would have a degree, I would get a good job. (use had)
✔ If he had studied harder, he would have passed the exam.

Conditionals in reported speech. When a conditional sentence is reported, an unreal condition does not change its tense. A real condition (the zero and first conditional) moves back like any other reported verb. The pronouns and time words change as usual.

✔ He said, "If I had money, I would buy a car." → He said that if he had money, he would buy a car. (the unreal condition keeps its tense)
✔ He said, "If it rains, I will stay at home." → He said that if it rained, he would stay at home. (a real condition moves back as usual)

As if, if only and wish. Their concepts (were or had + V3 after them) are explained with the Subjunctive Mood chapter.

If is not the only word that opens a condition. Several other words do the same work, and the exam tests them with the same two questions: is there a will or would inside the condition clause, and does the verb match the meaning?

Provided, as long as, on condition that. These words mean only if, so they behave exactly like if: the clause after them takes the present tense for the future. A will or would inside that clause is wrong.

✔ I will lend you the book provided you return it on Monday.
✘ I will lend you the book provided you will return it on Monday. (use return)
✔ You can borrow my notes as long as you take care of them.
✘ Radhika will join the trip on condition that her parents will allow her. (use allow)

Supposing, suppose, imagine. These words ask the listener to picture something. If the picture is unreal, the verb steps back as in the second conditional. If it is a real possibility, the present tense is used.

✔ Supposing you won a lottery, what would you do? (unreal; the main clause has would)
✔ Suppose it rains tomorrow, what shall we do? (a real possibility)

Even if. Even if means no matter whether this happens. It takes the same verb forms as if: the present for a possible future, and the past perfect for an unreal past. Do not confuse it with even though, which introduces a fact.

✔ Even if the train is late tomorrow, I will reach the office before noon.
✘ Even if the train will be late tomorrow, I will reach the office before noon. (use is)
✔ Even though it was raining, the match went on. (a fact, not a condition)

Whether ... or not. Here two cases are named and the result is the same in both. When whether means no matter whether, the verb after it takes the present tense for the future.

✔ Whether he agrees or not, I will go.

But whether also opens an indirect question after words like tell, know, ask, wonder and doubt. That is not a condition, so will is allowed there.

✔ I cannot tell you whether I will be able to come or not.

> Read the word before the clause. If it is a condition word (provided, as long as, even if, whether ... or not), keep will out of the clause. If whether only asks a question after tell or know, leave the sentence alone.

A time clause tells when something happens. It starts with when, as soon as, before, after, until, till, once or by the time. It is not an if clause, but it follows if in one important way: it does not take will or would for the future. The future idea is carried by the present tense, and the will sits in the main clause.

✔ I will call you when I reach home.
✘ I will call you when I will reach home. (use reach)
✔ As soon as the bell rings, the class will end.
✘ As soon as I shall win the lottery, I hope to buy a Ferrari. (use win)
✔ By the time we reach the station, the train will have left.
✘ By the time we will reach the station, the train will have left. (use reach)

Match the two times. If the main clause is in the future, the time clause is in the present. A past verb in the time clause with a future main clause does not match.

✘ When I saw him, I will ask him to return the book he borrowed.
✔ When I see him, I will ask him to return the book he borrowed.

By the time and the future perfect. By the time names the deadline, and the main clause shows what will already be complete by then: will have + V3. The time clause itself stays in the present.

✔ By the time the sun sets over the valley, the artist will have finished the entire landscape mural.

When is not if. When is for something that will certainly happen, and if is for something that may or may not happen. But both keep will out of their own clause.

In the past. When the main verb is in the past, the will of the main clause becomes would, and the time clause takes a past tense. Never put would inside the time clause itself.

✔ She promised that she would write when she reached Pune.
✘ The spokesperson refused to comment until the investigation would be completed. (use was completed)

> The same concept covers once, the moment, whenever, while and till. None of them takes will in its own clause.