conditionals

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

The goal of today's lesson:

• to know the difference between different sentences with 'if.....'
• to be able to use these sentences in different situations

'If' statements - 4 kinds:

0	facts - If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils.
1	real or likely situations - If the weather is bad, we will cancel the party.
2	unlikely or hypothetical situations - If I won the lottery, I would go travelling around the world
3	situations that cannot be changed - If I had studied for the test, I would have passed. (But I didn't study, so I didn't pass.)

Fact: If + present simple = > present simple

condition: If + present simple (If I win)

result: present simple
(don't eat)

Facts:   0 conditional

If you freeze water, it turns into ice.

Real/likely situation: If + present simple => will

"If you go outside in the rain, you will get wet!"

Real / likely situations: 1st conditional

condition: if + present simple (If I tell)

result: will + verb (I will get)

Unlikely situation: If + past simple = > would

Unreal / unlikely situations: 2nd conditional

condition: if + past simple (If I did)

result: would + verb (would I be)

"If I won the lottery, I would buy a new car!"

Careful: 2nd conditional 

Noteworthy exception

The form 'to be' in becomes 'were' not 'was' when giving advice

"If I were you, I would talk to a teacher."

Situations that you cannot change anymore: 

If + past perfect => would + present perfect

Situations cannot be changed / past : 3rd conditional

condition: if + past perfect (If I hadn't been caught)

result: would + present perfect (I would have gotten)

"I would have left sooner if I had known."

Conditionals:
zero conditionals refer to

1. general/true situations
2. possible (future) situation

1st conditional is used for

1. Facts and truths
2. Hypothetical past situations
3. Improbable future situations
4. Possible and likely to happen situations

Second conditional
refers to ....

1. a future, real situation
2. un unreal, imaginary situation

3rd conditional is used to express

1. something we expect will happen in the future
2. to consider how past actions and events could have turned out
3. giving advice
4. something that is imaginary/hypothetical