WS:conditionals

From Creolista!
Revision as of 15:05, 17 April 2013 by WikiSysop (talk | contribs) (The first conditional)
Jump to: navigation, search

In general, the standard EFL grammars have divided the conditional mode in English into 3 types on the basis of both syntax and semantics:

(It was not simply done to encourage students to learn the ordinals from 1st-3rd :)

Quickly, in the part of the sentence that does not include the condition (which is often introduced by if), the following modals are frequently found

  • The first conditional = Ø, can, will, may, shall V
  • The second conditional = d, could, would, should, might V
  • The third conditional = primarily , coulda', woulda', shoulda' (and mighta') Ved

The first conditional

  1. If we finish in time, we can go to the 7:30pm showing.
  2. If she's flying in late Monday, she may want us to start later on Tuesday morning, so she can recover from jet lag.
  3. If I have my daughter, I Ø leave work early to pick her up. (general truth)
  4. If I have my daughter Friday evening, I will (have to) leave work early to pick her up. (more specific)
  5. If I have my daughter Friday evening, I may ask for Friday afternoon off to go shopping and clean the house.

The second conditional

The third conditional