| |
Second Conditional
Second Conditional: Imaginary Present or Unlikely Future The Second Conditional can be used used to talk about imaginary present situations, where we are imagining something different from what is really the case. We can also use it to talk about things in the future that are unlikely to happen, as the condition is unlikely to be met. We use the past tense in the condition part and would for the result. | IF | Condition | Time | Result | Possibility | | | past simple | present | WOULD + base verb | impossible | | If | I had the time, | | I would learn Italian. | I don't have the time, so I'm not going to learn Italian. | | | past simple | future | WOULD + base verb | unlikely | | If | I won the lottery | | I would travel around the world. | There's a very small chance of winning the lottery, so the trip is unlikely | We can use other modal verbs in the past tense in the result part of the sentence: | IF | Condition | Result | Certainty | | | past simple | WOULD + base verb | | | If | I had the time, | I would learn Italian. | Although unlikely to happen, the speaker is sure that they would do it given the opportunity. | | If | I had more time, | I might learn Spanish. | Although unlikely to happen, it is only a possibility anyway. | | If | I had more time, | I should learn some more about IT. | Although unlikely to happen, the speaker is saying that it would be a good idea, but is not committed to it. | | If | I had more time | I could learn Hindi. | Although unlikely to happen, it is only a possibility anyway. | With the verb to be, there are two forms that can be used with I, he, she & it: | IF | Condition | Result | | I, he, she, it | Were | | | If | I were you, | I'd marry her. | | I, he, she, it | Was | | | If | I was you, | I'd marry her. |
From Second Conditional to HOME PAGE
|
