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**Third Conditionals**

Meaning:

> We use the 3rd Conditional to talk about an unreal situation in the past. This means that we are talking about something which did not happen (just to imagine the consequences).

> We often use this conditional to express regret:

If I had given her more love, she would still be my wife.
(She is no longer my wife)

If I had taken your advice, I would have been safe.
(I wasn’t safe)

Notes on Usage:

> Sometimes we use COULD instead of WOULD:

If we had taken the other route, we could have been there by now.

> Sometimes we express the second part as a present consequence, and the structure is different:

If I had taken your advice, I would have been safe.
If I had taken your advice, I would be safe.

**Second Conditional**

Structure:

> The structure of the second conditional:

IF + Past tense clause + COMMA + WOULD clause

If your father was here, he would be angry
If Tom became President, we would all be in trouble

> The order can be reversed (note there is no comma):

Your father would be angry if he was here.
We would all be in trouble if Tom became President.

> The spoken form is usually reduced:

Written: We would all be in trouble if Tom became President.
Spoken: We’d all be in trouble if Tom became President.

> In the second conditional, you can use ‘were’ in place of ‘was’:

Correct: If I was a doctor, I would be getting a better salary.
Correct: If I were* a doctor, I would be getting a better salary.

*This is slightly old-fashioned

**First Conditionals**

> Notes on Usage:

1- There are several types of sentence structure that we can form using the conditional word ‘if’. The First Conditional is one of these.

2 -The first conditional is used to talk about something in the future that will happen IF something else happens.

3- A First Conditional sentence has two parts:

If George gets married, he will spend less time with his friends.

It can be written (or spoken) the other way around:

George will spend less time with his friends if he gets married.

*note that we use a comma to separate the two parts when the sentence begins with ‘if’.

4- Let’s see another example:

If I have time, I will go to the gym.

The part of the sentence joined to IF is written in the present tense:

If I have time…

The other part is written in future form:

I will go to the gym.

But the sentence is talking about a future event.

5- In spoken English, we almost always contract the WILL:

If I have time, I’ll go to the gym.

English learners may have to listen closely to catch that 'will' is used.

6- Sometimes WILL is replaced by CAN:

If you pay me, I can fix it for you by tomorrow.

7- We don’t use WOULD. That is the second conditional and carries a slightly different meaning.