I2CI
Grammar
Review
I2CI: Conditionals 1
Conditions and results
Compare these sentences. The if... clause is the condition, and the
other part of the sentence is the result (if sentence can come
second)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If sales increase (in general), we make more profit
If sales increase (next month), well make more profit
If sales increased (next month), wed make more profit
If sales increased (last month), the Director should be happier
If sales had increased (last month), The Director whould have
been happier
Sentence 1 is about something that is always true
Sentence 2 is about something that is reasonably likely to happen in
the future
Sentence 3 is about something that is imaginary or unlikely to
happen in the future
Sentences 4 and 5 are about the past (last month)
I2CI: Conditionals 1
If we sell... (always true)
When we want to talk about things that are always or generally
true, we use if/when + present (condition), present simple or
imperative (result):
If you go to the meeting (condition), take notes on the main
ideas (result)
In the condition clause, there can be a variety of present forms:
When you fly business class, you get much more legroom
If interest rates are rising, bank loans become more
expensive
When youve finished the course, you get a certificate
In the result clause, there can be a present simple or an
imperative:
When you fly business class, dont drink too much
champagne
I2CI: Conditionals 1
If we sell... (likely future)
When we want to talk about future events that will happen, or
are likely to happen, we use if+ present (condition), future or
imperative (result):
If the compromise deal fails, who knows what will happen
In the condition clause, there can be a variety of present
forms:
If you increase your order, well give you a bigger discount
If you are meeting Sue today, tell her to phone me
If Ive made any mistakes, Ill correct them later
It is also possible to use other future forms:
If you increase your order, youre going to get a bigger
discount
If he doesnt get the job, he ll have done a lot of work for
nothing
I2CI: Conditionals 1
If we sell... (likely future)
When we want to talk about future events that will happen, or
are likely to happen, we use if+ present (condition), future or
imperative (result):
If the compromise deal fails, who knows what will happen
In the condition clause, there can be a variety of present
forms:
If you increase your order, well give you a bigger discount
If you are meeting Sue today, tell her to phone me
If Ive made any mistakes, Ill correct them later
It is also possible to use other future forms:
If you increase your order, youre going to get a bigger
discount
If he doesnt get the job, he ll have done a lot of work for
nothing
I2CI: Conditionals 1
If we sold... (imaginary future)
When we want to talk about future events that
are imaginary, unlikely or impossible, we use if+
past simple or continuous (condition),
would/could/might + infinitive (result):
If we did our job properly, we would not have
these problems
In the condition clause, we can use a past simple
or a past continuous:
If you wanted a quantity discount, youd have
to order at least 1,000 units
If you were still speaking after an hour, the
audience would probably be bored
I2CI: Conditionals 1
Unless
Unless means the same as if.......not. Compare
these sentences which have the same meaning:
If he doesnt arrive soon, hell miss the start of
the presentation
Unless he arrives soon, hell miss the start of the
presentation
Other modals
The modals we have been using up to now are
mainly will and would. However, we can use all
other modals like can, could, must etc. with their
normal meanings to create conditional sentences.
I2CI: Conditionals 2
If we sold...(possible past)
When we want to talk about past events which
possibly happened, we use if + past simple
(condition) + any tense or modal (result):
If you went to the meeting yesterday, you
probably heard the news
If you missed the TV program last night, You
can borrow the recording I made.
If we had sold...(imaginary past)
When we want to talk about past events that are
different to what really happened, we use if + past
simple (condition) + would have + past participle
(result):
If Clinton had won the election, he would have
promoted a free trade agreement
I2CI: Conditionals 2
If we had sold...(imaginary past)
In these kind of sentences there is often a
suggestion of criticism or regret:
A contracted d in speech can be had in the
condition or would in the result:
result
If the economic situation had been better, we
wouldnt have lost so many customers
If Id done an MBA, Id have had more
opportunities
The previous examples are about two actions in
the past. If the result clause refers to the present,
we use would + infinitive:
infinitive
If I had done an MBA, I would earn a bigger
salary now
I2CI: Conditionals 2
Conditionals without if
We use if for something that might happen in
the future, or something imaginary. We use
when for something that we know will happen:
Ill call you if I get a chance (Im not sure if I
will be able to phone you)
Ill call you when I arrive (I will definitively
phone you)
We can use either if or when where the
meaning is every time:
If / when anyone rings my mobile, I get a
picture of the person on the screen
I2CI: Conditionals 2
Conditionals without if
In informal speech we sometime use imagine or
supposing in place of if:
We can use provided that, providing, on condition
that, as long as and so long as for emphasis. The
meaning is if and only if:
Imagine / Supposing you had a million Euros, how
would you invest it? (If you had a million Euros...)
As long as there are raw materials in the world,
industry will continue its expansion
We can use in case to talk about doing something to
avoid a possible problem later. The result clause
usually comes first and often uses going to:
Im going to give you my mobile number in case
you need to contact me
I2CI: Conditionals 2
Wish
We use I wish to express regret or dissatisfaction
For the present and future, use I wish followed by
the past simple or continuous:
For the past, use I wish followed by the past
perfect:
I wish we didnt have so many meetings
I wish I wasnt working next weekend
I wish we had advertised on television
If the wish is a good one, use I hope followed by
present simple or will:
I hope your presentation goes well
I hope the merger of our companies will be a
success
I2CI: Conditionals 2
Wish
If the wish is about doing something that is
difficult or impossible, use I wish I could:
I wish I could contact him, but he is not
answering his phone
We can replace I wish with If only for emphasis.
We stress the word only in speech:
If only I hadnt eaten the oysters
If only I could contact him
If I were you,...
We can use if I were in place of If I was in
imaginary future, particularly when we give
advice with the phrase If I were you:
Id be more careful, if I were you
I2CI: Conditionals 2
Modal verbs in conditionals
Apart from will, other modal verbs like can, could,
may, might, must and should are common in
conditional sentences and they have their normal
meanings:
If you have business in the Middle east you must
be available to your customers on Sundays
If you dont have a business plan, you cant
succeed
We often use present forms like will and can with
likely futures, and past forms like would and could
with imaginary futures:
If you buy now, youll get the product by Friday
If you bought now, you would get the product by
Friday
I2CI: Conditionals
Grammar
exercises
on conditionals:
Test 8
