Second Conditionals

By Category: English Applied Linguistics (EAL)

TGB

Condition and result

Imaginative

  • Hypothetical (unlikely but possible — future and present)
  • Counterfactual (impossible — present or past)

Problems

  • Inconsistent tenses
  • Use of “were”
  • Confusion with ___ conditional: ‘if it rains, I will…’ versus ‘if it rained, I would…’ (The former expresses more confidence in the likelihood.)
  • If: confusion with non-conditional; also, if sometimes is implied, not stated

Form

  • Present/Future: past (simple or continuous)
  • Past: past perfect
  • ‘If’ as clue

Master

NOTHING

Swan

Unreal or improbable

Meaning

‘If I knew… I would…”: ‘would’ distances our language from reality

We use past to mean present or future

Firsten (ELT Grammar Book)

All conditionals involve cause and effect

Meaning

In distinguishing second conditional from others, think about hope vs. wish (that is, possibility vs. impossibility/unlikelihood). If I had a hammer.

Form

  • Subjunctive
  • Mix and match verb forms

Grammar in Context

Present

Present: It’s not real now. If we had a time machine, we could…

Form: past + would/might/could + verb root

Unreal Past

Past: Past perfect verb + would/might/could + have + past participle

Online

After I, s/he and it we often use “were,” but “was” is also correct.

Exercise ideas

Introduce: If you had a ____, what would you do? [Ss write the answers]

  • If I were you…
  • What would I do without you…
  • Have students state implications: If I were king of the forest = but I’m not. Usually goes with would.
  • Express wishes: Think of three animals, times of day, topographies, etc. Things the Ss aren’t/can’t be/can’t do. If I were in the mountains now…
  • Express regret: I wish I hadn’t ______. If I had, ______.
  • Bad habits: what would happen if you didn’t bite your nails…
  • If you could be anyone…
  • If that were true…
  • Dream

Other ideas

  • Folktale

Quotations from people in past about future:

  • There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.
  • Heaver-than-air flying machines are impossible.
  • Everything that can be invented has been invented.

If I were king of the forest:

If I were King of the Forest, Not queen, not duke, not prince.
My regal robes of the forest, would be satin, not cotton, not chintz.
I’d command each thing, be it fish or fowl.
With a woof and a woof and a royal growl – woof.
As I’d click my heel, all the trees would kneel.
And the mountains bow and the bulls kowtow.
And the sparrow would take wing – If I – If I – were King!
Each rabbit would show respect to me. The chipmunks genuflect to me.
Though my tail would lash, I would show compash
For every underling!
If I…. if I… were King!
Just King!

From BBC site

We use the second conditional to talk about imaginary, hypothetical or unreal situations. We use it to talk about the result of this imaginary situation.

In this episode of the Flatmates, Khalid answers questions about imaginary holiday situations. He is not on holiday now, and he is not about to go on holiday. But, if he was on holiday, and if there was a problem with his hotel room, he would talk to the manager.

The idea that he is on holiday and that there is a problem with the hotel room is a hypothetical (imaginary) situation. The result of this situation is talking to the manager.

We use ‘would’ to show that we are certain about the result of the imaginary situation. If we are not certain about the result, we can use might instead of would: Example: If there was a problem, I might speak to the manager, or I might contact my travel agent.

The second conditional does not refer to past time. We often use it when we imagine a different present or when we are not making a direct reference to time. Example: If he was an animal, he would be a tiger.

The second conditional – form

1. A conditional sentence is usually composed of two parts – The condition and the consequence. In the condition we usually use the past simple of the verb (was, had). In the consequence we use would + infinitive without to (would speak, would go): Examples:

  • If there was a problem with his room, he would speak to the manager.
  • If I had the money and also the time, I would go to New York.

We always separate the consequence and the condition with a comma, when we begin the sentence with the condition. When we begin the sentence with the consequence, we usually don’t use a comma. Example: I would go to New York if I had the money and also the time.

2. The negative form of ‘would’ is ‘wouldn’t’: Example: If there was a problem with his room, he wouldn’t contact his travel agent

3. When you make a question, you change the word order by moving ‘would’:
Examples: What would you do if there was a problem with your room?
If you had the money and also the time, where would you go? Would you contact your travel agent? Example: Would you visit the Statue of Liberty?

4. In short answers to yes/no questions, you use would or wouldn’t?
Examples: Would you contact your travel agent? No, I wouldn’t. Would you visit the Statue of Liberty? Yes, I would.

5. In spoken English, we usually use a contracted form of would: I would = I’d, he would = he’d etc.

6. It is possible, in the condition, to say both ‘If I were you …’ and ‘If I was you …’ ‘If I were you …’ is the traditional and more formal form, but ‘If I was you …’ is very common nowadays.

My ideas

  • Newspaper Headlines. Rewrite the story. e.g. If the bomb had gone off, …. and more conditionals.

‘Very Lucky’: Cops Comb Foiled Times Sq. Bomb Clues [abcnews.com, May 2, 2010]

A T-shirt vendor saw something suspicious in New York’s Times Square Saturday evening — smoke coming from an unoccupied SUV on 45th Street near 7th Avenue — so he alerted police.

The 6:30 p.m. scare prompted police to evacuate thousands of people from the heart of the Big Apple during one of its busiest times — a warm Saturday night when it was packed with theatergoers and tourists.

“We are very lucky,” Bloomberg said. “Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could [have been] a very deadly event.”

  • Sequence of conditionals. If the cat had knocked over the pot, the coffee would have spilled. If the coffee had spilled, the electricity would have shorted… Draw a picture?