Conditional
Sentences
Conditional tenses are
used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what
we wish would happen. In English, most sentences using the conditional contain
the word if. Many conditional forms in English are used in sentences that
include verbs in one of the past tenses. This usage is referred to as "the
unreal past" because we use a past tense but we are not actually referring
to something that happened in the past. There are five main ways of constructing
conditional sentences in English. In all cases, these sentences are made up of
an if clause and a main clause. In many negative conditional sentences, there
is an equivalent sentence construction using "unless" instead of
"if".
Conditional
Sentence Type 1
Often called the
"real" conditional because it is used for real or possible
situations. These situations take place if a certain condition is met. It is
possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form:
If + Simple Present, +
Simple Future
Use
Conditional Sentences
Type 1 refer to the future. An action in the future will only happen if a
certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We don't know for sure whether the
condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather
realistic – so we think it is likely to happen.
Example:
If I have enough time,
I'll watch the football match.
I may have time to
watch the match but I'm not sure about it.
Conditional
Sentence Type 2
Often called the
"unreal" conditional because it is used for unreal impossible or
improbable situations. This conditional provides an imaginary result for a
given situation. It is very unlikely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form:
if + Simple Past, +
would + base verb
Were / Was
In conditional type 2,
we usually use in the if clause "were" instead of "was"
even if the pronoun is I, he, she or it. "were" here is a subjunctive
form.
NOTE "was" is
also a possible form.
Example:
If I were a
millionaire, I would buy a castle.
Use
Conditional Sentences
Type 2 refer to an action in the present that could happen if the present
situation were different. I don't really expect the situation to change because
it is very unlikely.
Example:
If I had a lot of
money, I would travel around the world.
Conditional
Sentence Type 3
It is impossible that
the condition will be met because it refers to the past.
Form:
if + Past Perfect, +
would + have + Past Participle
Use
Conditional Sentences
Type 3 refer to situations in the past. They express hypothetical results to
past given situations.
Example:
If he had been careful,
he wouldn't have had that terrible accident.
Sometimes in the past,
he was careless. He drove so fast. So he had a terrible accident
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-conditionals.php
1. If the students
_____ late to submit the scholarship application to the board, they will not be
listed as candidates.
A. be
B. are
C. were
D. have
Answer : B
Keyword : will not be
listed
2. If your brother
______ here, he ______ us with this works.
A. is - would help
B. was - will help
C. were - will help
D. were - would help
Answer : D
Keyword : If
3. Aldo : Did you
attend the meeting last Monday?
Fery : I would if I had been invited.
The underlined utterance means ______.
A. Fery didn’t attend the meeting
B. Fery plans to attend the meeting
C. Fery knew about the meeting and he
attended the meeting
D. Fery was not invited to the meeting but
he came
Answer : A
Keyword : I would if I
had been invited
4. You _____ the job if
you were not late to the interview.
A. would get
B. would be gotten
C. would have gotten
D. would have been gotten
Answer : A
Keyword : were not late
5. We would get the
tickets, ______
A. Weren’t there so much rush at the cinema
B. Because there were so much rush at the
cinema
C. There were not so much rush at the
cinema
D. Although there were so much rush at the
cinema
Answer : D
Keyword : would get
