![]() ![]() you believe it could happen (it’s likely)Īlso notice that the main clause verbs (will burn, will be crying) can be in simple form or -ing form. ![]() Using the present tense verb shows two things: Notice that the verb “stick” is in the present tense. If you stick your fingers into the fire, you will be crying all day. (Same idea as above, but rather than stating a general fact, you are talking about a specific incident.) If you stick your fingers into the fire, you will burn yourself. She hasn’t put her fingers into the fire yet, but we know that small children don’t understand fire, so we can easily imagine her touching it. We use the first conditional to describe these situations.įor example, a 3 year old child is reaching toward the fire. We call it “unreal” because situation we are describing hasn’t happened yet, and “likely” because we can easily imagine it happening. This conditional deals with “unreal, but likely” situations in the present or future. When the situation is completely likely, use present tense in both clauses. If you stick your fingers in the fire, they get burned. We use this to describe a condition with an absolutely predictable result-in other words, to state a fact. ![]() We don’t call it “real” because it has already happened: we call it real because it *always* happens this way. This conditional deals with “real” conditions. Pay attention to the situation described before each example and notice how the verb changes as the situation becomes more and more likely. The critical factor is the *likelihood* of the situation being real. This handout uses the same basic activity in each example (sticking your fingers into the fire) to show how the situation influences the choice of verb tense. Most explanations of the conditional don’t use one consistent example, so it’s difficult to see how different verb tenses convey different meanings. If it doesn’t rain, we won’t.” This handout explains how different verb tenses indicate different meanings when you are speaking hypothetically and should help you choose the right verb tense for the meaning you want to convey. For example, “If it rains, we’ll cancel the picnic. One of them is to use the word “if” in the clause that expresses the condition. There are many different ways to express “conditional” or “hypothetical” meaning in English. Conditionals: Verb Tense in “If” Clauses What this handout is about ![]()
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