English conditionals
The short answer
Four patterns, chosen by how likely the situation is. Zero: if + present, present, for things always true. First: if + present, will, a real future possibility. Second: if + past, would: unlikely or imaginary. Third: if + past perfect, would have, a past that did not happen.
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The rule
A conditional sentence has two halves: the if clause, which sets the condition, and the main clause, which gives the result. English has four standard patterns, and which one you use depends on how real the situation is rather than on when it happens. The single rule that governs all of them is that will and would never appear in the if half: the condition is marked by moving the tense one step back, and the main clause carries the modal. Mixed conditionals combine halves from different patterns when the time frames differ.
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Zero | ifpresent simplepresent simple | If you heat water, it boils. |
| First | ifpresent simplewillbase verb | If it rains, we’ll cancel. |
| Second | ifpast simplewouldbase verb | If I had time, I’d help. |
| Third | ifpast perfectwould haveparticiple | If I’d known, I’d have called. |
| Mixed | past conditionpresent result | If I’d studied, I’d be a doctor now. |
| Never | will or would in the if half | Not: if it will rain… |
Part 1 of 3
Zero and first: real situations
The zero conditional states something always true, so both halves are in the present: if you don’t water plants, they die. If can usually be replaced by when without changing the meaning, which is a good test for it.
The first conditional handles a genuine future possibility: if it rains, we’ll stay in. The condition is in the present simple even though it clearly refers to the future: this is the same rule that governs when, as soon as and until.
If you press this, the machine stops.
Always true, zero.
If I finish early, I’ll come round.
A real possibility, first.
If you see her, tell her I called.
First conditional with an imperative result.
NBThe result half does not have to contain will. It can be a command or a modal.
Part 2 of 3
Second and third: unreal situations
The second conditional describes something unlikely or imaginary: if I won the lottery, I’d move abroad. The past tense does not mean past time: it marks distance from reality, which is why it is sometimes called the unreal past.
The third conditional talks about a past that did not happen, and is where regret lives: if we’d left earlier, we’d have caught the train. Both halves are counterfactual, and the tenses are what say so.
If I were you, I’d wait.
Were rather than was, the fixed subjunctive form.
If they offered me the job, I’d take it.
Possible but not expected.
If she hadn’t helped, we’d have missed the deadline.
She did help, and we did not miss it.
Part 3 of 3
Mixed conditionals and wish
When the condition and the result sit in different time frames, the halves mix: if I’d taken that job, I’d be in Munich now, a past condition with a present result. The reverse also occurs: if I spoke German, I’d have applied.
The same tense logic drives wish and if only. Wish plus a past tense is a present regret: I wish I had more time. Wish plus a past perfect is a past one: I wish I hadn’t said that. Wish plus would complains about someone else’s behaviour.
If I hadn’t moved here, I wouldn’t know any of you.
Past condition, present result.
I wish I knew the answer.
Present regret, past tense.
I wish you’d told me sooner.
Past regret about someone else.
Mistakes to avoid
What learners actually get wrong
If it will rain, we’ll cancel.
If it rains, we’ll cancel.
Will never appears in the if half. The condition takes a present tense however future the meaning is, and this is the single most penalised conditional error in exams.
If I would have known, I would have called.
If I had known, I would have called.
The third conditional takes the past perfect in the if half, not would have. The error is common in casual native speech, which is exactly why it sounds acceptable and still fails.
If I would be you, I would wait.
If I were you, I would wait.
This is a fixed expression using the subjunctive were for all persons. If I was you is heard informally, but if I would be you is not English at all.
I wish I would have more time.
I wish I had more time.
Wish about your own present situation takes a past tense. Wish plus would is reserved for complaining about what somebody else keeps doing: I wish he would listen.
Now use it
Conditionals
Zero, first, second and third: match the halves of each if-sentence. Reading a rule and being able to apply it are different skills, and only one of them shows up when you speak.
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Questions
Asked and answered
- Why is the second conditional in the past if it is about now?
- The past tense marks distance from reality, not distance in time. English uses the same trick for politeness, I wondered if you could help is gentler than I wonder, so the pattern is not unique to conditionals once you notice it.
- Can if be replaced by other words?
- Yes, and the tense rules travel with them. Unless means if not; provided that and as long as make the condition explicit; in case means as a precaution rather than a condition. Should you need anything is a formal inversion of if you need anything.
- Do I need all four patterns to speak well?
- The first and second carry almost all conversation. The zero is easy and rarely gets in the way. The third is worth learning properly for writing and for exams, but you can hold a long conversation without producing one, which is why it is the pattern learners recognise long before they use it.