The four Conditionals

In English we have four conditionals; 0, 1, 2, and 3, plus mixed conditionals:

Each conditional has an “if” clause, and a main clause.

0. “if” + present simple, present simple.

1. “if” + present simple, will + infinitive.

2. “if” + past simple, would + infinitive.

3. “if” + past perfect, would have + past participle.

Mixed conditional. A mix of the second and third conditionals.

 The “if” clause gives us the situation or condition, and the main clause
gives us the result.

 The zero and first conditionals, are used to describe things that are
real/possible, whereas the second and third conditionals describe
impossible/hypothetical situations.

Zero Conditional

“If you spin around, you get dizzy.”

“If you flip this switch, that light turns on.”

“If you forget the eggs, the dough falls apart.”

The Zero conditional is formed by using “if” + the present simple, the present
simple. We use the zero conditional when speaking about things that are sure
to happen under certain conditions, and often things that are very obvious.
We can also use the imperative (command) in the zero conditional:

“If you drop your trash, pick it up.”

“When you get home, try to rest.”

“If you don’t know the way, ask directions.”

What’s the difference between “if” and “when?”

First Conditional

“If you go, I’ll go too.”

 The first conditional is formed by using “if” + present simple, will +

infinitive. In the place of “will” we can other modal verbs that would put
the action in the future. For example: “I’m going to,” “might,” “may,”

 The first conditional is used for a possible future condition, and its possible
future result.
“If we don’t leave soon, we’ll miss the train.”

“If I’m late to work again, I might lose my job”

“I’m going to be sick if I eat any more cheese!”

 “I’m going to be sick if I eat any more cheese!”

UNLESS

A word used to express if… not.

For example:

“If (as long as) you don’t get an invitation, you won’t come to the party.”

“Unless you have an invitation, you won’t come to the party.”

“You won’t come to the party unless you have an invitation.”

Zero and First conditional; what’s the difference?!

“If I have time, I work out.”

“If I have time, I’ll work out.”

-As you observed, the difference has to do with a specificity of time.

 The Zero conditional, as in the first example above, can be translated as:
“Whenever I have time (in general), I work out.” Here, I’m referring to
working out in my life in general, not connected to a specific point in time.

 The First conditional on the other hand, is referring to a more specific time
[in the future.] It’s often connected to a specific point in the near future,
but not always. It is also very common to specify, within the first clause, the
point in the future to which we’re referring. Here are some examples:
In the near future:
“If I have time this afternoon, I’ll cook tonight’s dinner.”

“If I finish work early today, I’ll go buy the cleaning supplies.”

“If I’m free next weekend, I’ll invite you over.”

In the distant future:

“If my business is successful, I’ll be able to retire early.”

“If I make it to one-hundred, I’ll probably have a lot of stories.”

“If you stop smoking, you’ll most likely live much longer”

Note: When referring to a time in the distant future, it’s natural to add adverbs,
like “probably” to the second clause, since the sentence is stating a kind of
prediction, maybe based on statistics/likelihood of something happening.

'll give
 1 If I see him, I   (give) him a lift.
         
 sit
2 The table will break if you  on it.
       

eats
 3 If he   (eat) all that, he will be ill.
         

'll let
4 If I find your passport, I  you know.
       

will arrest
 5 The police   (arrest) him if they catch him.
         

reads
6. If he   (read) in bad light, he will ruin his eyes.
       

will steal
7 Someone   (steal) your car if you leave it unlocked.
       

doesn't open
 8 What will happen if my parachute   (not open)? 
       

washe
 9 If he   (wash) my car, I'll give him $10.
Second Conditional

The second conditional is formed by using the [“if”] + past simple, “would” +
infinitive. The modal verb “would,” is usually used here in a contraction with the
pronoun: I would = I’d, you would = you’d, he would = he’d, etc.

Our modal verb (“would”), as in the “will” from the first conditional, can be
replaced by other modal verbs like “might,” although they are not as frequently
used.

The second conditional is used to refer to an unreal/hypothetical action.

“If the river didn’t run so quickly, they’d cross it.”

We can understand from this sentence, that they won’t cross the river because it
is running quickly. The sentence wouldn’t change its meaning if we were to add a
second part (although it’d become a run-on sentence):
“If the river didn’t run so quickly, they’d cross it, but it is running quickly, so they
won’t.

“If I won the lottery, I’d buy a mansion.”

“I’d buy a mansion if I won the lottery.”

“If I were* younger, I’d have more energy.”

*Because in the second conditional we’re imaging that the present is different
than it really is, the past participle of to be, was, when used in the conditional,
becomes “were” for all persons.
One very common if clause is: “If I were you,”
“I’d listen to her advice if I were you.”

1. “I’d be careful if I were you.”

2. “If I were you, I’d call Charlie before showing up”

3. “I don’t know what I’d do if had that many classes.”

4. “If it were any colder, it’d freeze.”

5. “If she were around more, we’d be good friends.”

“What would be the problem if I had a small fortune?”

The Third Conditional:

The third conditional is formed in the following way:

If + Past Perfect*, Would Have + Past Participle.

If + Past Perfect, would have + past participle.

*Past Perfect = had + Past Participle.

The third conditional is used to refer to something that didn’t happen in the past,
and the result that could have come of that unreal event.

“If I’d studied, I would’ve passed my exam.”*

*I had = I’d; Would have = Would’ve

“If I’d known that your friends were coming, I would’ve cooked more food!”

“I would’ve done the homework earlier if I’d had the right supplies.”*
*We can also switch the order: Would’ve + PP If I’d + PP, and leave the comma
out.
In the second clause, we always use the word “have,” but can substitute “would”
with “could.”

“If I hadn’t tripped, I could have won the race!”*

*The negative had not = hadn’t.

“If I’d left earlier, I could’ve beat the traffic.”

!It’s impossible, because we can’t change the past!

Mixed Conditionals:

Past
Third conditional = If + past perfect, would have + past participle.

Present
Second conditional = If + past simple, would + infinitive.

Mixed conditional: If + past perfect, would + infinitive.

“If I would’ve taken German in school, I would speak it much better now.”
“I would be rich if I’d played the lead role in that movie.”

“If I hadn’t stayed up to cook last night, we wouldn’t have enough food for our
guests!”

Comparing the 4 Conditionals

0: “If we take the car, we get there faster.”

1: “If we take the car, we’ll get there faster.”

2: “If we took the car, we’d get there faster”

3: “If we’d taken the car, we would’ve gotten there faster.”