Conditionals

Sophie is in Iceland for work and Oliver is in a really bad mood.

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of conditional sentences. They are in red in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, conditionals correctly.

Transcript

Oliver: Hey, how’s Iceland?
Sophie: I love it.
Oliver: Oh, what a surprise!
Sophie: It is actually. I don’t normally like camping!
Oliver: If I had the opportunity to visit places like that, I wouldn’t complain!
Sophie: What’s the matter with you today, Ollie?
Oliver: Ah, nothing really.
Sophie: If you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep asking ...
Oliver: Hmm. Yesterday, you were so excited, you didn’t ask about my exam!
Sophie: Oh, Ollie! I’m so sorry. You’re more important to me than camping and volcanoes!
Oliver: Well, it doesn’t always feel like it.
Sophie: If I promise to travel less, will you forgive me?
Oliver: No. Because you won’t travel less. You love it. And if you travelled less because of me, I’d feel worse. So … it’s not an option.
Sophie: You don’t make it easy! Seriously, honey, I don’t think I knew about the exam. If I’d known, I would have asked, you know that.
Oliver: Well, anyway. Have you been near that volcano? What’s its name?
Sophie: Even if I had three days of classes, I wouldn’t be able to say it, I don’t think. Wait, I can’t say it unless I read it – Eyjafjallajökull. There are about 30 active volcanoes in Iceland; the eruption in 2010 of Eyja … of that volcano really wasn’t so serious. If it hadn’t affected flights, we wouldn’t have heard much about it. There’s a bigger volcano near it – with a shorter name too – Katla. I’ve been to see that. The landscape here’s awesome ... You can’t imagine what it’s like.
Oliver: No? Well, I’ll never go unless you take me.
Sophie: Darling, please …
Oliver: Sorry. What’s it like?
Sophie: It’s beautiful. Water, rock, ice, lava, geysers … there aren’t many trees, obviously. I’ll send photos later.
Oliver: Look, do you want to speak to Daisy?
Sophie: Ollie, love?
Oliver: I’ll be OK. Let’s talk tomorrow.
Sophie: OK. Hi, Daisy.
Daisy: Hi, Mum.

We use conditional sentences to say one thing depends on another. They can be used to talk about real or imaginary situations. One of the clauses starts with if (or a similar word) – this is the conditional clause. The other clause talks about the result of the conditional clause happening.

Ummm?

Don’t worry, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. Let’s look at some examples.

If you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep asking.
If I promise to travel less, will you forgive me?

I know that one. It’s a first conditional: if + present simple, then will + infinitive.

That’s right. It’s for talking about a situation in the future which the speaker thinks is quite possible. If the first condition happens, something will happen as a result. In this conditional sentence, the present tense after if refers to the future, not the present.

And can you change the order of the clauses round?

Yes, and we leave out the comma in the middle of the sentence if the order is changed round.

I’ll just keep asking if you don’t tell me.

OK. I also know the second conditional. If + past simple, then would + infinitive.

Right again! This is for talking about an unlikely or unreal condition.

If you travelled less because of me, I’d feel worse.
If I had the opportunity to visit places like that, I wouldn’t complain!

So, in the second example, Oliver doesn’t think he will have the opportunity to travel a lot. It’s possible but improbable. We use the past simple to show that it’s not likely, not to indicate past time.

Can you use any other verbs, apart from would, in this kind of conditional?

Yes, we sometimes use other modal verbs like might or could in the result clause (not the if clause).

I see. What about, 'If you mix blue and yellow, you get green'. Is that a conditional?

Yes. That’s a zero conditional. We often use them for facts, or in academic subjects.

When it rains a lot, the animals move to higher ground. (geography)

What about other words that can replace if, like unless and as long as?

Well, unless is a kind of negative version of if.

I’ll never go unless you take me. (= If you don’t take me, I’ll never go.)

As long as imposes a condition on someone. You’re telling them what you expect them to do.

You can borrow my surfboard as long as you get it back to me by five o’clock.

So if you agree to what I say, you can borrow my surfboard?

Exactly.