Conditional

The basic types are Conditional Sentences tells different degrees of likelihood
of the condition and consequence. Typically, there are four different types –
Type 0, 1, 2 and 3.
Type Condition Consequence
0 a. present simple tense a. present simple tense
b. modal + bare inf.
1 a. present simple tense a. future simple tense
b. modal + bare inf.
2 a. past simple tense a. would/could/should + bare inf.
b. would/could/should + be + present
participle
3 a. past perfect tense a. would/could/should + have + past
b. past perfect participle
progressive tense b. would/could/should + have been +
present participle

In general, the likelihood of the condition becomes less and less possible in
reality as the Type number advances.
The condition can be a statement, or shortened into just a past participle.
Type Condition
0, 1, 2 or If + S + V,
3 If + S + modal (+ V),
If + past participle,

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The consequence can be in a declarative statement, question, command or
exclamatory statement.
Type Statement type Consequence
0, 1, 2 or Declarative S + V.
3
0, 1, 2 or Question V + S?
3 Aux V + S + V?
Modal + S + V?
0, 1, 2 or Command V.
3
0, 1, 2 or Exclamatory S + V!
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Both condition and consequence can either in active or passive voice.
Example Sentences:
Type 0
 When there is life, there is hope.
 When confused, I seek for advice. (= When I am confused…)
 If he can do it, I can do it too.
 If he tells lies, can you tell?
 When there is fire, run!
 When we finish the project, thanks goodness!

Type 1
 If the weather is nice, we will go hiking.
 If lost, you may want to read a map. (= if you are lost …)
 If it rains, who will collect the laundry?
 If we have enough fuel, let us skip the next highway stop.
 If she wins the lottery, good luck!

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Type 2
 If the weather was nice, we would go outdoors.
 If found, the wallet would be returned to its owner. (= if the wallet was
found…)
 If he stayed, would he be the manager by now?
 If all people were sick, stay home.
 If there were oil underneath this city, hurry!

Type 3
 If the weather had been cold enough, we could have seen snowing
already.
 If injured, he should have called the police for assistance. (= if he had
been injured…)
 If she had become the first woman president, would history have been
rewritten?
 If the world had got no famine, prove it to me.
 If my examination result had been good enough, sigh!

Special Case -- were

The subjunctive mood is to show opinion, belief, purpose, intention or desire.
Such expressions are often grouped under Type 2.

There is no separate verb form to show the subjective mood in Modern

English. The bare infinitive form is used for all verbs. The only exception is
were for the verb to be.

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Examples:
 If I were you, I would study hard for the examination.
 If Tony were sad, he could go for a movie himself.

Inversion of Conditional Signal Word

The signal words “were” and “had” can be inverted and substitute “if”.

Examples:
 If I were you…  Were I you…
 If Tony were sad…  Were Tony sad…

Using Modals in Conditional Sentences

Most modals are defective, meaning they do not have all forms to show
different tenses. Consider an ordinary verb “walk” versus a modal “can” and
semi-modal “be able to”,
walk Can be able to
Bare infinitive walk Can n/a
To infinitive to walk n/a n/a
Present simple form walk n/a is / am / are able to
Third person singular walks n/a n/a
present simple tense
form
Past simple form walked could was / were able to
Present participle walking n/a being able to
form
Past participle form walked n/a been able to
When using some modals, we may need to substitute the modal with a
semi-modal in the correct tense form.

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Examples:
 When you can do it, I can do it too. (Type 0)
 If you can do it, I will be able to do it too. (not “will can”) (Type 1)
 If you could do it, I would be able to do it too. (not “would can”) (Type 2)
 If you were able to do it, I would be able to do it too. (not “would can”)
(Type 2)
 If you had been able to do it, I would have been able to do it too. (not
“would have can”) (Type 3)

Mixing Reported Speech with Conditional Sentence

When reporting a conditional sentence, the condition and consequence
clauses should be inverted.

Examples:
 The teacher said the classroom learning will be more effective if all
students can remain quiet.
 Scientists claim that the earth will be warmer if carbon emission keeps
rising in the existing rate.

Modal + have + participle

As a special case in Type 3 to show regret, accusation, disapproval, the
pattern modal + have + participle can be used in the consequence clause. The
clause is often in the negative.
Type 3 consequence clause
modal + have + past participle
modal + have + been + present
participle

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Examples:
 You needn’t have done the exercise if you had been fit enough.
 I shouldn’t have gone eating in this restaurant if I had known better its
poor hygine.
 The whole class would not have been waiting had you arrived on time.

Check Point
1. “If”, “when”, “unless” are the only conditional signal words.
A. True
B. False

2. The four types of conditional sentences indicates how likely the

consequence may happen if the condition is fulfilled. The correct order of
likelihood is…
Type 0 Type 1 Type 2 Type 3
A. very likely not likely somewhat likely somewhat unlikely
B. very likely somewhat likely almost unlikely imaginary
C. imaginary almost unlikely somewhat likely very likely
D. imaginary somewhat unlikely somewhat likely very likely

3. All modals can be used in conditional sentences.

A. True
B. False

4. Which of the following auxiliary verbs can be inverted and become the
conditional signal word?
A. Is, was
B. Has, had
C. Did, do
D. Were, had

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5. In reported speech, the condition clause should be placed at the back of
the consequence.
A. True
B. False
C.
6. Type 3 consequence clause using modal + have + participle patterns are
usually in …
A. positive
B. negative

Exercise 1. Identify which of the following words or phrases function as the

conditional signal word “if”.

1. when ______ 6. which ______

2. whenever ______ 7. however ______

3. in case of ______ 8. provided that ______

4. in addition to ______ 9. assuming that ______

5. in condition that _______ 10. in spite of ______

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Exercise 2. Identify the type of the following conditional sentences. One has
been done for you as an example.

e.g., When you are happy and you know it, clap you hands. 0
1. When you sneeze, please cover your nose. ______

2. If mother goes to the supermarket, she buys some fruits always. ______

3. We should stay indoors when a typhoon strikes. ______

4. Do not open the exam paper unless you are told to do ______

so.

5. If you work hard, you will be successful. ______

6. Had he been healthy, Simon could have lived much ______

longer.

7. Who would have chosen this poor restaurant if there ______

had been more choices around?

8. Lisa could finish the exercise, if she was provided some assistance.______

8. If the lights were off, insects would not be attracted to ______

the room.

10. The plant could survive if you watered them regularly. ______

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Exercise 3. Fill in the gaps. Construct meaningful sentences which belong to
either a Type 0 or Type 1 conditional. One has been done for you as an
example.
e.g., Whenever there is (be) smoke, there is (be) fire.
1. If you __________ (eat) too much, you ___________ (get) fat.
2. If the alarm ___________ (go off), the firemen _____________ (arrive) in
10 minutes.
3. Your eyes ___________ (get) strained if you _____________ (stare) at
the monitor for too long.
4. Provided that we ___________ (stay) long enough in an English speaking
country, we ___________ (pick up) local slang and culture.
5. The competition _______________ (not start) unless the racing track
________ (be) clear.
6. On condition that a proper travel document ______________ (grant),
Cathy _______________ (go travelling) in South Korea.
7. We _____________ (buy) this house given that the bank ___________
(approve) our mortgage application.
8. Only time ______________ (tell) if the couple ______________ (mend)
their broken relationship.
9. In most cases, the popular candidate _______________ (become)
elected if he _____________ (get) enough votes.
10. “Don’t you know we _______________________ (all get caught) if you
____________ (keep) making noises?” the gang leader scolded his
members.

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Exercise 4. Fill in the gaps. Construct meaningful sentences which belong to
either a Type 2 or Type 3 conditional. One has been done for you as an
example.
e.g., My dentist told me that there would not have been (be) any cavities
if I had eaten less candies.
1. If the Government __________ (stop) reclamation, there
______________ (be) a shortage of land supply.
2. If pollution __________ (continue), everybody _____________ (have) no
clean drinking water.
3. Assuming that the steaks__________________ (cook completely), there
______________ (be) no risk of catching mad cow disease.
4. David ______________ (be) our manager, if he _______________ (not
quit) last year.
5. We ______________ (be) the champion provided that all other
competitors _____________ (quit).
6. If all people ______________ (have) a chance to own a house for free,
Hong Kong ____________________ (have) less protest.
7. This city ___________________ (be) the best one to live in, __________
there ________________ (be) no crime at all.
8. Given that the little girl __________________ (receive) good care and
education, she _____________________ (be) the brightest student in
this school.
9. Miracles ___________________ (happen) if pigs __________________
(give) a pair of wings.
10. We ____________________ (use) less fossil fuel, if wind turbines
___________________ (produce) enough and stable energy.

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Exercise 5. Proofreading. In the following passage, each line may contain one
error. Underline the error and write the corrections in the space provided. If
there is no error, mark a tick () in the space. One has been done for you as
an example.

The Mysterious Smile

E.g., is
If there is one smile that can captivate all people, it
1. ________
would be the smile of Mona Lisa – the famous
2. ________
portrait in Leonardo da Vinci. There were a lot of
3. ________
mystery about the true identity of the elegant lady
4. ________
in the painting. When some art historians believe
5. ________
Mona Lisa, or translated as My Lady Lisa in Italian,
6. ________
was the wife of a wealthy merchant, some others
7. ________
argued she was a different woman, or even
8. ________
Leonardo himself.
9. ________
10. ________
Had Leonardo tried to draw a female self-portrait, it
11. _________
will certainly give us more mysteries than answers.
12. _________
Why did Leonardo wants to be seen as a woman?
13. _________
What did ‘her’ smile mean? Unless we have
14. _________
understood better Leonardo’s life and career, we
15. _________
would never know who exactly Mona Lisa was.
16. _________

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Art historians tries hard to identify the background 17. _________
of the portrait too. There was a forest, a lake, rivers 18. _________
and bridges in the background. Assuming that the 19. _________
portrait was painted life, where were Leonardo and 20. _________
Lisa spent days or even weeks together? Was it the 21. _________
landscape from Lisa’s home at Florence? Supposed 22. _________
they stayed long enough together, the painting
would not have remained unfinished. The truth was
Leonardo linger over it four years. Later on, he
moved to France to work for the King and probably
keep the portrait along with him. This was equally
likely that the background was anywhere near the
King’s castle.

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Exercise 6. Fill in the gaps. Construct meaningful sentences with the modal +
have + participle pattern. One has been done for you as an example.
e.g., Everybody needs not to run (need to run) away if there had not been a
bomb threat.
1. We ___________________ (would panic) if Sam had called us prompt
enough of his being safe.
2. The class _____________________ (need revise) if the examination
deadline had passed.
3. All work at the construction site ____________________ (should stop) if
the budget had been approved.
4. All airplanes ___________________ (need to be grounded) if the
typhoon had not approached so close.
5. The emergency alarm __________________ (would go off) had the
customer not exited at the wrong door.
6. The public ________________ (need to protest) for months had the
legislation of the new law not been controversial.
7. We ________________________ (need to be) so hungry should the
dinner was prepared on time.
8. The flight left at 8pm. We _______________ (should miss) our flight
provided that we check our bookings sooner this afternoon.
9. All tickets are sold out. We ___________________ (need to line-up) if
the staff of the theme park had announced the news to all visitors.
10. Nobody survived the devastating typhoon. It ___________________
(need to be) like this had all villagers listened to the evacuation order.

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