CONDITIONAL
0 F 0
E 0
universal truth
1st F0
E 0
possible situation
2nd F 0
E 0
theoretically possible but highly unlikely situation
2nd Hypothetical F 0
E 0
impossible present situation
3rd F 0
E 0
imaginary past situation
* Sometimes ‘if’ can be used with / be replaced by other structures.
a) Should you require… / If you should require… (possible situation)
b) If it hadn’t been for (the fact that)… “If it hadn’t been for the traffic (the fact
that the frafic was horrible), I wouldn’t have been late”
c) If it weren’t for… “If it weren’t for the rain, I would go out”
d) But for… “But for the rain, I would’ve gone out”
e) Were it not for… “Were it not for the fact he’s partially deaf, he wouldn’t find it
difficult to communicate with other people on the telephone”
f) If only… (How I wish…) “If only I lived by the sea!”
g) Even if… “Even if I try to please him, he still shouts at me”
h) If + past + conditional: whenever, when, as soon as, every time… “If the bell
rang, she would race to see who it is” (she does this every time)
i) I should/would be (most) grateful if you would/could... (do something).
Formal structure to ask for something. “I would be most grateful if you could
send me a copy of this book” = “Please, send me a copy of this book”.
j) Supposing/provided/unless/as long as F 0
E 0
similar functions to ‘if’. “Unless
security checks are carried out, accidents will be frequent” “As long as/
provided/so long as security checks are carried out, there should be little danger
of accidents”
k) Deduction and reasoning: “If he were going to stand for the presidency, he
wouldn’t have divorced his wife”.
l) Had I… I would have… Similar to “if only” “Had you told me about the party,
I would have gone”
Equal structures (examples)
During exam time he always revised all night.
= If he had an exam, he would revise all night.
If only we had gone by air, we would have saved time.
= Had we gone by air, we would have saved time.
He can’t be a police man. I’ve never seen him wearing a uniform.
= If he were a policeman, I would have seen him wearing a uniform.
But for their parents (‘s objections), they would have got married.
= Hadn’t it been for their parents, they would have got married.