A conditional sentence is a sentence that includes a condition (e.g.
, If it snows) and the
outcome of the condition occurring (e.g., the game will be cancelled). In each of these
examples, the clause expressing the condition is highlighted:
If you snooze, you lose.
If you study tonight, you will pass your exam tomorrow.
If you were smarter, you would know what you don't know.
If we had read the map, we would have avoided the river.
The 4 Types of Conditional Sentence
Here are the four types of conditional sentence with an explanation of each type:
Type Function Example
zero Expresses something as a fact If you sleep, you dream.
conditional
first States the result of a possible If you get some sleep, you will feel
conditional future event occurring better.
second States the result of an unlikely If you became an insomniac, you
conditional event occurring or an untruth would understand. (unlikely event
being true occurring)
If you were an insomniac, you
would understand. (untruth being
true)
third States how the situation would If you had slept last night, you
conditional be different with a different past would have beaten your record.
Zero Conditional Sentences
A zero-conditional sentence expresses a general fact (i.e., a situation where one thing always
causes another).
If you rest, you rust. (Actress Helen Hayes)
If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you are right. (Business
magnate Henry Ford)
You do ill if you praise, but you do worse if you censure, what you do not understand.
(Polymath Leonardo da Vinci)
Structure: With a zero-conditional sentence, the simple present tense is used in both
clauses. Also, the words if and when are interchangeable.
If I make money, I'm happy. When I lose money, I'm happy. (Gambling magnate Lui
Che Woo)
(With a zero-conditional sentence, the message is expressed as a fact. That doesn't mean it's
true of course.)
First
Conditional Sentences
A first-conditional sentence states the result of a hypothetical, but possible, future event
(e.g., If you rest) occurring.
If one swain [young lover] scorns you, you will soon find another. (Roman poet Virgil)
If I like a food, even if it's bad for me, I will eat it. (Reality TV star Kim Kardashian)
Structure: With a first-conditional sentence, the simple present tense is used in the if-clause,
and the simple future tense used in the main clause.
Second Conditional Sentences
A second-conditional sentence states the result of an unlikely event occurring (e.g., If the
boat sank) or an untruth being truth (e.g., If they were on time).
If I won the lottery, I would still love you. I'd miss you, but I'd still love you.
(Comedian Frank Carson)
If I saw a heat wave, I would wave back. (Comedian Steven Wright)
If I had any humility, I would be perfect. (Media mogul Ted Turner)
If you set out to be liked, you would compromise on everything and achieve nothing.
(Margaret Thatcher)
Structure: With a second-conditional sentence, the simple past tense is used in the if-clause,
and would (rarely should or could) with the base form of a verb is used in the main clause.
Nowadays, it's safe to say that the simple past tense is used in the if-clause, but in fact it's
the past subjunctive, which is identical to the simple past tense apart from
when I and he/she/it are used with the verb to be (e.g., If I were millionaire, If she were to
try). (There's an entry on the subjunctive mood.)
If I were a rich man, all day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum. (Extract from "Fiddler on the
Roof")
(I'd is short for I would. To biddy-biddy-bum must be a verb.)
Life would be tragic if it weren't funny. (Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking)
That said, it is now common to see the simple past tense used in all circumstances.
If I was a man, I don't know whether I'd settle down long before I was 50. (Journalist
Mariella Frostrup)
Third Conditional Sentences
Third-conditional sentences express how the situation would be different if the past had
been different.
If my lawyer and I had communicated properly in January 1958, this whole history
would have been entirely different. (Inventor of the laser Gordon Gould, who fought
unsuccessfully to patent it)
If I had learned education, I would not have had time to learn anything else.
(Business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt)
If I had known how hard it would be to do something new in the payments industry, I
would never have started PayPal. (Co-founder of PayPal Peter Thiel)
With a third-conditional sentence, the past perfect tense is used in the if-clause, and would
have (rarely could have) with a past participle is used in the main clause.
