conditionals

Zqro conditional?

Facts, things that always happen, a truth Present simple 2x Description: This conditional is used when the result will always happen. So, if water reaches 100 degrees, it always boils. It's a fact. I'm talking in general, not about one particular situation. The result of the 'if clause' is always the main clause.

What happens when people eat too much

When people eat too much they get fat

Third conditional

if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle It talks about the past. It's used to describe a situation that didn't happen, and to imagine the result of this situation. If she had studied, she would have passed the exam (but, really we know she didn't study and so she didn't pass) If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick (but I did eat a lot, and so I did feel sick). If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plane

Second conditional?

if + past simple, ...would + infinitive (We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. This is mostly done in formal writing). It has two uses. First, we can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true. Maybe I'm imagining some dream for example. If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.(I probably won't win the lottery) If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello. She would travel all over the world if she were rich. She would pass the exam if she ever studied.(She never studies, so this won't happen) Second, we can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true. Is that clear? Have a look at the examples: If I had his number, I would call him. (I don't have his number now, so it's impossible for me to call him). If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man. How is this different from the first conditional? This kind of conditional sentence is different from the first conditional because this is a lot more unlikely. For example (second conditional): If I had enough money I would buy a house with twenty bedrooms and a swimming pool (I'm probably not going to have this much money, it's just a dream, not very real) But (first conditional): If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes (It's much more likely that I'll have enough money to buy some shoes)

First conditional?

if + present simple, ... will + infinitive It's used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can't know what will happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily come true. The first conditional describes a particular situation, whereas the zero conditional describes what happens in general

If you touch fire.....

you get burned.