Second Conditional

Second Conditional

Hello, English learners! Welcome to a new lesson. We will be talking about the second conditional.

We use the second conditional to express an imaginary and unreal situation and its result in the present or future. 

• I would call Brian if I had his phone number. (but I don’t have his number)
• If I won the lottery, I would move to Bermudas. (but he didn’t win the lottery, so it is an unreal situation)
• If I saw my husband cheating on me, I would leave him immediately.

The structure of the second conditional is:

IF + Past Simple – would + infinitive

If the clause doesn’t have to be at the beginning of the sentence, it can be in the middle.

• I would be afraid if someone pointed a gun at me.
• I would prepare a special meal If I knew you were coming.

The difference between the first and the second conditionals

We use the first conditional to talk about things that will or won’t happen, so it is about real situations. However, the second conditional is used for unreal, imaginary ones.

• If I save enough money, I’ll travel around the world. (real situation)
• If I saved enough money, I’d travel around the world. (unreal situation)
• If we take a taxi, we won’t be late for the theatre.
• If took a taxi, we wouldn’t be late for the theatre.

You can find more about the first conditional here.

Instead of would, we can use could and might.

• If the weather is nice, we could go on a picnic.
• If I’m not too tired, I might go to Susan’s party tonight.

Use were for all persons (not was)

• If I were you, I would buy a hybrid car.
• If Michael were here, he would explain everything.

We can use unless instead of if, which means “if not”. 

• I would never go to the dentist unless I had a toothache.
• I’d like to go now unless you still need me.

Find more about words and phrases to use instead of “if” here.

Make sure you put a comma after the if clause.

• If you studied more, you would pass the exam.

Do the exercise to perfect your knowledge:

 

 

Download this lesson here

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