Grammar LessonsTenses
Conditional Tenses
Introduction
Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might have happened, and what we wish would happen. In English, most sentences using the conditional contain the word if. Many conditional forms in English are used in sentences that include verbs in one of the past tenses. This usage is referred to as "the unreal past" because we use a past tense but we are not actually referring to something that happened in the past. There are five main ways of constructing conditional sentences in English. In all cases, these sentences are made up of an if clause and a main clause. In many negative conditional sentences, there is an equivalent sentence construction using "unless" instead of "if".
Summary
Conditional Type 0 (Zero)
Usage
- General truths
Structure
- If clause: Simple Present
- Main clause: Simple Present
Conditional Type 1
Usage
- A possible condition and its probable result
Structure
- If clause: Simple Present
- Main clause: Simple Future
Conditional Type 2
Usage
- A hypothetical condition and its probable result
Structure
- If clause: Simple Past
- Main clause: Simple Conditional or Conditional Continuous
Conditional Type 3
Usage
- An unreal past condition and its probable result in the past
Structure
- If clause: Past Perfect
- Main clause: Conditional Perfect or Conditional Perfect Continuous
Conditional Type 4
Usage
- An unreal past condition and its probable result in the present
Structure
- If clause: Past Perfect
- Main clause: Simple Conditional or Conditional Continuous
Conditional Type 5
Usage
- A hypothetical condition and its probable result in the past
Structure
- If clause: Simple Past
- Main clause: Conditional Perfect or Conditional Perfect Continuous