Unless-If only-In case(of)
• Unless: Conditional clauses can begin
with unless. Unless means something similar to ‘if … not’
or ‘except if’. The verb forms in the examples are similar to
sentences with if: we use the present simple in the unless-
clause + modals/will.
E.g. Unless I phone you, you can assume the train’s on
time. (If I do not phone you /except if I phone you, you can
assume the train is on time.)
E.g. We’ll have to cancel the show unless we sell more
tickets at the last minute. (We’ll have to cancel the show if we
do not sell more tickets/except if we sell more tickets at the
last minute.)
Unless-If only-In case
Warning:
• We don’t use unless for impossible conditions:
E.g. If the government had not raised food prices,
there would not have been so many protests.
Unless the government had raised food prices …
Warning:
• We don’t use unless and if together:
E.g. We’ll go to the coast tomorrow unless it rains.
Not: We’ll go to the coast tomorrow unless if it rains.
Unless-If only-In case
• If only: We use if only to express a strong wish that things
could be different. It means the same as I wish but is
stronger. We use it to talk about past, present and future
unreal conditions.
• We use if only + past verb forms to talk about a wish for the
present:
E.g. If only he knew the truth. (he doesn’t know the truth,
but he wishes he did)
If only he knows the truth.
E.g. If only there was something she could do or say to help.
If only there is something she could do or say to help.
Unless-If only-In case (of)
• We sometimes use were instead of was in more formal
situations:
E.g. If only she weren’t so tired. (If only she wasn’t so tired.)
• To talk about a wish for the future or to show a contrast
between how things are and how we would like them to be,
we use if only + would + infinitive without to:
E.g. If only they would talk to each other.
• We use if only + past perfect to talk about a wish to change
something that has already happened:
E.g. If only he had listened to what his friends had been
telling him. (He didn’t listen.)
Unless-If only-In case (of)
• In case (of): In case is a conjunction or adverb. In case of is
a preposition.
• We use in case to talk about things we should do in order to
be prepared for possible future situations:
Eg. In case I forget later, here are the keys to the garage.
(conjunction)
Eg. She knows she’s passed the oral exam, but she doesn’t
want to say anything just in case. (adverb)
• We don’t use in case to mean ‘if’.
As long as, as soon as, providing, supposing
• Sometimes we need to impose specific conditions or set
limits on a situation. In these cases, conditional clauses can
begin with phrases such as as long as, only if, on condition
that, providing (that), provided (that).
• As long as is more common in speaking; on condition that is
more formal and more common in writing:
E.g. You can play in the living room as long as you don’t make
a mess.
• Providing (that) is used to say what must happen or be
done to make it possible for something else to happen.
• It is more common in speaking; provided (that) is more
formal and more common in written language:
E.g. They may do whatever they like provided that it is within
the law.
As long as, as soon as, providing, supposing
• We use suppose, supposing and what if + present verb form to
make suggestions about what might happen:
E.g. Supposing I don’t bring my car and you and I travel together.
That would save us half the cost of petrol and parking.
• Supposing may be used with a conditional meaning. It can be
used in first, second or third conditional sentences. The speaker
invites the listener to imagine a situation:
E.g. Supposing you lost your passport, you’d have to go to the
embassy, wouldn’t you?
E.g. Supposing he hadn’t recognised us – he might never have
spoken to us.
As long as, as soon as, providing, supposing
• When we are less certain, we use suppose, supposing and what if +
past form to talk about future possibility.
E.g. Supposing someone else wrote the essay. How would we know?
(not as certain as Supposing someone else writes the essay …)
• When we refer to something that did not happen (something
hypothetical), we use the past perfect.
E.g. Suppose we hadn’t brought our umbrellas. (We did bring our
umbrellas.)
Warning:
• We use be supposed to to talk about obligations and arrangements,
not suggestions.
• As soon as: in the shortest possible time. Not later than the moment.
E.g. You may have a biscuit as soon as we get home.
E.g. We’ll come as soon as we can.