Conditional Forms
Sometimes our students have problems with particular grammar points. One that springs to mind is that of conditional expressions. Some people learnt their English a long time ago, and others have interference from the way their own language works. This is called L1 interference.
Lets look at some conditional sentences.
I'll start with the one we know as the Zero conditional.
ex: If you mix blue and yellow, you get green. On the surface this looks like a conditional sentence; it starts with an 'if' clause, has two clauses and there is a verb in each. Only when we analyse the sentence do we see the problem- in this example, you could, if wanted, replace 'if' with 'when' and finish with the same result. If I now tell you that 'wenn' means 'if' in German, you can see the problem; students will think that 'when' can be used as a replacement for if in all situations.
Clearly this is not true. Lets look at the First conditional form.
ex: If I have time, I'll pick up some milk on the way home.
In this example, the 'if' cannot be replaced by 'when'. The first part- the 'if' clause, is a condition which needs to be met prior to the picking up of any milk.
The first conditional, therefore, gives information about the real possibility of a condition being met.
We can also start with 'unless'. Unless I have time, I won't pick up any milk. You can see that unless is the negative version of the condition.
With the Second Conditional form we see a more hypothetical situation.
ex: If I won the lottery I would travel around the world.
This time, the chances of winning are more unrealistic, or, if I didn't buy a ticket,completely hypothetical.
Using the second form, then, shows that you really don't expect the condition to be met.
There is a Third Conditional form. It differs from the other two, in that they are looking to the future, whether real or unreal. The third conditional is often used to express regret.
ex: If I had known it was your birthday, I would have bought you a gift.
We can see that the gift wasn't forthcoming because the speaker didn't know about the birthday.
The difference when we use this form is that the event has already taken place and so the past is now unchangeable.
We can mix the forms up, a variety called Mixed conditionals.
If I had seen the police car, I wouldn't be stuck in this cell now.
This is a mix of the 'if' clause of a third conditional, and the subordinate clause from a second conditional
Lets look at some conditional sentences.
I'll start with the one we know as the Zero conditional.
ex: If you mix blue and yellow, you get green. On the surface this looks like a conditional sentence; it starts with an 'if' clause, has two clauses and there is a verb in each. Only when we analyse the sentence do we see the problem- in this example, you could, if wanted, replace 'if' with 'when' and finish with the same result. If I now tell you that 'wenn' means 'if' in German, you can see the problem; students will think that 'when' can be used as a replacement for if in all situations.
Clearly this is not true. Lets look at the First conditional form.
ex: If I have time, I'll pick up some milk on the way home.
In this example, the 'if' cannot be replaced by 'when'. The first part- the 'if' clause, is a condition which needs to be met prior to the picking up of any milk.
The first conditional, therefore, gives information about the real possibility of a condition being met.
We can also start with 'unless'. Unless I have time, I won't pick up any milk. You can see that unless is the negative version of the condition.
With the Second Conditional form we see a more hypothetical situation.
ex: If I won the lottery I would travel around the world.
This time, the chances of winning are more unrealistic, or, if I didn't buy a ticket,completely hypothetical.
Using the second form, then, shows that you really don't expect the condition to be met.
There is a Third Conditional form. It differs from the other two, in that they are looking to the future, whether real or unreal. The third conditional is often used to express regret.
ex: If I had known it was your birthday, I would have bought you a gift.
We can see that the gift wasn't forthcoming because the speaker didn't know about the birthday.
The difference when we use this form is that the event has already taken place and so the past is now unchangeable.
We can mix the forms up, a variety called Mixed conditionals.
If I had seen the police car, I wouldn't be stuck in this cell now.
This is a mix of the 'if' clause of a third conditional, and the subordinate clause from a second conditional