Conditionals

CONDITIONALS:

Conditionals are verb tenses that are used to indicate that an action or state of being is dependent on the occurrence of a condition.  The conditionals are used to talk about real or unreal situations; they are sometimes called if-clauses. Real Conditional describes real-life situations. Unreal Conditional describes unreal, imaginary situations.

Condition                                                         If Clause                                            Main Clause

1. First conditional (possible action)                    If + V₁/V₅                                            Simple future

2. Second conditional (hypothetical action)          If + V₂/were                                        would + V₁

3. Third conditional (Impossible)                         If + had + V₃                                       would have + V₃

4. Zero conditional (cause and effect)                 If + V₁/V₅                                             present/imperative