You know, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me about
conditional sentences, I'd be a millionaire. Do you have questions like that?
Well, if I were you, I'd listen carefully to this podcast episode let's
discuss Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from New York City.
And here's your English teacher, Michael. All right, thank you John,
and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from Happy English and I help people
speak English better. And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode six eighty five.
Four conditional patterns. Conditional sentences are commonly found in everyday English conversations and
on exams like the toek and toful. Basically, there are four different patterns
you need to remember, and that's what we're going to look at today.
Let's get the ball rolling. First of all, we have the zero conditional.
The pattern is if followed by a present verb and then another present verb.
We use this pattern to talk about facts and situations that are usually true.
For example, if the temperature reaches one hundred degrees celsius, water boils.
If it rains, I use an umbrella. If I need help with
my computer, I call yelchin. Next is the first conditional The pattern here
is if followed by a present verb and then a future verb. We use
this pattern to talk about possibility in the future. Here are some examples.
If I am late for work again, the boss is going to be angry.
If I find out anything about the meeting, I'll let you know.
If it rains tomorrow, I'm going to use an umbrella. The next one
is the second conditional. This pattern is if followed by a past verb and
then would or could and a base verb. We use this pattern to talk
about imaginary and hypothetical situations. For example, if I won the lottery,
I would buy a big yacht. I would study for an MBA if the
company paid for it. By the way, when we use the be verb
with the second conditional, we use war for both singular and plural subjects.
For example, if I were you, I would talk to the boss about
your problem. If they were satisfied, they wouldn't be complaining. The last
pattern is the third conditional. This conditional has a more complex pattern than the
other three, and it goes like this. We use if followed by a
past perfect verb and then would or could followed by a present perfect verb.
We use this pattern to talk about imaginary and hypothetical situations in the past.
In other words, the third conditional is used to imagine about the past.
Here are some examples. If I had known about the meeting, I would
have attended it. If I had won the lottery, I would have bought
a big yacht. If I had had more time, I could have been
able to find the answer. Those are the four patterns for conditional verbs.
Keep in mind the best way to remember this grammar and any grammar or vocabulary
is to take the word or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true
for you or true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Well
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