UNIT 9:

CONDITIONALS
WISH – IF ONLY
TIME CLAUSES
Dra. Dina Elizabeth Cortez Coss
 CONDITIONALS
 There are two parts to a conditional sentence.
the condition and the result. The result depends on the
condition.
 In English, we have "real conditionals" (which talk
about real possibilities) and "unreal conditionals"
(which talk about imaginary or impossible situations).
Here are some examples of each type:
Real conditionals:
oZero Conditional:
oIf someone breaks a window, an alarm goes
off.
oFirst Conditional:
Unreal conditionals:
oIf I miss the bus tonight, I'll take a taxi
o Second Conditional:
instead.
If I owned a car, I would drive to work.
oThird Conditional:
If I had studied harder, I would have passed the
test.
oMixed Conditional:
If I had finished my work yesterday, I
wouldn't be so stressed out today.
 ZERO CONDITIONAL

If you don’t water flowers, they die.

CONDITION RESULT

If you have a headache, stop watching TV.

If clause: Main clause:

PRESENT PRESENT SIMPLE or

SIMPLE, IMPERATIVE

With zero conditional, we express a general truth or we

give advice.
 Use of “If” (condition) vs “When” (time
clauses)
The word if implies that a situation happens
less frequently, and the word when implies it
happens more frequently:
 If I have a day off from work, I usually go
to the park.
(it implies that having a day off from work
is not frequent)
 When I go to my favorite restaurant, the
waiters greet me by name.
(it implies that I go to this restaurant
frequently)
 FIRST CONDITIONAL

Whereas the zero conditional talks about real present situations,

the first conditional talks about real future possibilities.

If the weather is nice, we will go for a walk.

If you don’t apologize, she will never trust you
again.
If clause: Main clause:
PRESENT FUTURE
SIMPLE SIMPLE
Unless (=if not) is also
possible.
Ex: Unless the weather is nice, we won’t go
for a walk.
Unless you apologize, she’ll never trust you
First Conditional: Real Future Possibilities

We can also reverse the order of the condition

and result in the sentence, with no change in
meaning:
 We'll go to the beach if it's sunny tomorrow.
 We'll go to the movies if it rains tomorrow.
 Other words besides “If”
• In first conditional sentences, it is possible to use
other words instead of “if” or “unless”:

o “As long as” or “providing that” mean “but only if”.

Compare:
They’ll succeed but only if they try hard.
They’ll succeed as long as they try hard.

o As soon as (to emphasize immediately):

Ex: This situation is very urgent. I’ll call you as soon as I
have more information.
When, as soon as, by the time, the moment (that),
until… They are called time clauses but they have
the same structure as First Conditional Sentences.
 SUMMARY: Real Conditionals
• Conditionals are sentences in which one thing
depends on another.
• Use the zero conditional for things that happen
regularly in daily life - "If you freeze water, it turns
to ice." Both verbs are in the present simple .
• The word if implies that a situation happens less
frequently, and the word when implies it happens
more frequently.
• Use the first conditional for things that are real
possibilities in the future: "If it's sunny tomorrow,
then we'll go to the beach." Although both events
are technically in the future, we use the present
simple in the condition, and will/going to in the
result.
 SUMMARY

 You can use when instead of if when the condition

will definitely happen in the future.
 Use as soon as to emphasize that the result will
immediately follow the condition
 Use unless in instead of "if not.“

 Use as long as or providing that to emphasize the

condition. It means “but only if”.
 Unreal Conditionals
They are used to talk about imaginary, unlikely, or impossible
situations in the present and past:
• Second Conditional:
If I owned a car, I would drive to work.
(imagining things are different in the present)
• Third Conditional:
If I had studied harder, I would have passed last week’s test.
(imagining things were different in the past)
• Mixed Conditional:
If I had finished my work yesterday, I wouldn't be so stressed
out today.
(mix of times - imagining something different in the past having a
different result in the present)
 Imagining the Present were
different
• One simple way to imagine that things in the present
were different is to use
wish + past simple (ojalá…)
Example:
I live near the beach, but I wish I lived near the
mountains.
My boyfriend is so busy that he has no time for me. I
wish he didn’t work so much.
 Second conditional
Now we'll take those wishes one step further and imagine the
result; imagine what would happen if they were currently true.
This is the second conditional:
Example:
If I lived near the mountains, I would go hiking every
weekend.
If my boyfriend didn’t work so much, we'd go out
more often.
 Second Conditional
If I had a lot of money, I would buy a big
house.
Condition Result
If I knew his number,main
I would (I’d) phone
clause:
if-clause:
him.
PAST SIMPLE TENSE CONDITIONAL SIMPLE
would / might / could + infinitive

We use would when the result is more definite or certain.

Ex: If Peter asked Karen out, she would say yes.
We use might when the result may or may not happen:
Ex: If Peter asked Karen out, she might say yes... or she might say no.
We use could to talk about possibilities or abilities.
Ex: If I had a million dollars, I could buy a helicopter,
I could live in a mansion, I could quit my job….
 One final note on Second
Conditional
• Which is correct?
 If I was rich, I’d buy a boat. Or If I were rich, I’d buy a boat.
 If Dana was here right now, she’d agree.
 If Dana were here right now, she’d agree.
• Technically the correct answer is were in both cases… even though
the subject is singular, we use were when talking about hypothetical
situations. However, informally, more and more people are saying
sentences like these with was when the subject is singular. It’s not
correct, but it is common. To be on the safe side, it’s best to stick with
were!
• One very common phrase for giving advice is in the second
conditional: “If I were you, I’d…”
SECOND CONDITIONAL

Jack wants to buy a house but he can’t do this

because he doesn’t have any money.

If I had a lot of money,

I would buy a big house.

I wish I …
I wish I had a lot of money to buy a
house.
SECOND CONDITIONAL

Susan wants to phone Paul but she can’t do

this because she doesn’t know his number.

If I knew his
number,
I would phone
him.

I wish…
I wish I knew his number…
If John runs fast, he will win the
race.
This is still possible to happen.

If John ran fast, he would win the race.

This is unlikely to happen because John doesn’t run fast.

THE DIFFERENCE: FIRST and SECOND CONDITIONAL

Both conditionals refer to the present and future.
The difference is about probability, not time.
First conditional: real and possible situations
Second conditional: unlikely to happen
Let's imagine a different past using wish. For
hypothetical past situations, use
wish + past perfect (had + p. part)
Examples:
I was late for work today. I wish I had woken up 15
minutes earlier.
I wish I hadn’t eaten that seafood yesterday – it
made me sick.
This is used to express regret (such as for eating that seafood)
or past situations you wanted to be different (such as
wishing you had woken up earlier).
Now we'll take those wishes one step further – imagining the result, in
the past, if that past situation had been different:

If I had woken up 15 minutes earlier, I would have arrived on

time.
If I hadn’t eaten that seafood yesterday, I wouldn’t have got
if-clause:
sick. main clause:
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE CONDITIONAL PERFECT
had + past participle would / could / might + have + p. participle

Other examples:
If we had brought our camera, we might have taken a picture.

Sarah could have learnt French if she had taken lessons.

The third conditional refers to the past and it is not based on facts. It
expresses an impossible situation.
Jack wanted to buy a house last year but he couldn’t
do that because he didn’t have any money.

If I had had a lot of

money,
I would have bought
a big house.
Yesterday, Susan wanted to phone Paul but she
couldn’t do that because she didn’t know his number.

If I had known his

number,
I would have called
him.
If I saw a car accident, I would call an ambulance.

But I don’t see an accident now. This is unlikely to happen.

If I had seen a car accident, I would have called an

ambulance.
But I didn’t see an accident yesterday.

THE DIFFERENCE: SECOND and THIRD CONDITIONAL

The difference is about time.
Second conditional: refers to the present and future.
Third conditional: refers to the past situations.
0. If it rains, the grass gets wet.
General time reference.

1. If it rains today, you will get wet (you don’t have an

umbrella). This is still possible to happen.

2. If it rained, you would get wet.

But the sky is blue. This is unlikely to happen.

3. If it had rained yesterday, you would have got wet.

But it didn’t rain, so you didn’t get wet.(past situation)
 WISH – IF ONLY…

Remember: We use “wish” to describe situations that we wish

were different, or that we are sorry about. It’s usually translate
by “desearía, me gustaría” or “ojalá”. It’s followed by a that-
clause (although “that” can be omitted).

“If only” has the same meaning as “I wish” but it’s more
emphatic. Its equivalent in Spanish is “ojalá” (whatever the object
is) or “si al menos”. The clause with “if only” often stands alone,
without a main clause.
 WISH – IF ONLY… (2)
• Both “wish” and “if only” can be used with:
a) Past simple (to talk about the present events. It expresses regret that things are not
different) :
I wish / If only I had a better job. I wish I was taller.
Remember! To be in the past: always “were”: I wish were that simple!
b) Past Perfect (to talk about the past and it expresses regret about them.)
Oh, I wasn’t expecting you. I wish you had called before coming over.
If only she hadn’t told the police, everything would have been all right.
c) Could / Would + infinitive (We’re not happy about a situation (regret, annoyance)
and we wish it changes in the future).
I wish I could afford it. If only it would stop raining!
Everybody wishes you would go home. (Why don’t you go home?)
If the subject is “I” or ”we” => “could” is often used.
I wish our sales would improve <=> I wish we could go together.