Page 53 - 342_

GRAMMAR REFERENCE
Conditional Sentences
First conditional

Example: If he does this again, I'll complain to the manager. Both
parts of the sentence are considered to exist in future time.

Second conditional
Example: If you were a woman you would know what I mean.

Both clauses are considered to be impossible. The time frame is the present for

both.

Example: If they offered me a job in London, I would consider moving.
Both clauses refer to a hypothetical possibility. The time frame is neither present, nor
future, in the definite future sense of the first conditional.
The two examples are similar but the difference can be seen more clearly if one
follows each with but.

Example: If you were a woman, you would know what I mean, but you are not so you
don't.
Example: If they offered me a job in London, I would consider moving, but they
almost certainly won't, so I'm almost certainly won't.

Third conditional

Example: If I hadn't pulled you out of the way, that car would have hit you.
Both clauses refer to a hypothetical past possibility: a past that didn't happen, in fact.

Zero conditional

Example: If you forget to say «please» when you ask for something, English people
think you are being rude.
The meaning is not hypothetical, or past, or future. You are talking about what
always or usually happens.

Mixed conditional sentences
We can use sentences which are a mixture of the second and the third types for the
following purposes.
When imagining how a different (unreal) past would affect the present state of
affairs.
Example: If I hadn't missed that train, I'd be dead now.
When supporting a statement about the present by mentioning a past fact.
Example: Of course I love you, darling. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have married
you, would I?

50