THE CONDITIONAL CLAUSE:
! Never use ‘will’ or ‘would’ in the conditional clauses
Ex: If he will call her now, she won’t answer. > If he calls her now, she won’t answer.
! Unless means ‘if not’, in the sense of ‘except if’
Ex: I’ll take the job, unless the pay is too low.
THE FIRST CONDITIONAL:
We use the first conditional when it’s about situations/actions that will probably
happen in the future.
IF + simple present, WILL + infinitive
CAN
MAY
MIGHT
Ex: If you work harder, you will succeed.
Ex: If he asks me, I might help him.
! SHOULD + infinitive is used instead of a simple present to express that it’s very
improbable that the condition will be fulfilled.
Ex: I will lend you some money if you need some.
I will lend you some money if you should need some.
! You can use a present tense in the main clause if the fulfilment of the condition inevitable to
the result expressed in the main clause (= the zero conditional) (de voorwaarde is
onvermijdelijk)
Ex: Gases expand if they are heated
! If + present tense, imperative is used to give orders
Ex: If it’s snowing, drive carefully.
THE SECOND CONDITIONAL:
The second conditional is used in…
- situations/actions that are less probable in the future
- situations/actions that are unreal in the present
- to make a suggestion more polite
IF + simple past, WOULD + infinitive
(COULD)
(MIGHT)
, Ex: If you worked harder, you would succeed.
Ex: If he asked me, I might helped him.
! ‘Were’ should be used instead of ‘was’. ‘Was’ can be used in a number of sentences
but it’s safer to use ‘were’.
Ex: If I were a rich man, I would buy a big new car.
! The second conditional is also used to make a suggestion more polite.
Ex: It would be nice if you came with me.
THE THIRD CONDITIONAL:
The third conditional is used in situations/actions that did not take place in the past
IF + past perfect, WOULD + HAVE + past participle
COULD
MIGHT
Ex: If you worked harder, you would have succeed.
Ex: If he asked me, I might have helped him.
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:
ADJECTIVES:
An adjective…
- modifies a noun
- appears after certain verbs (= to be, to feel, to seem,… = copula verbs)
Ex: It’s a nice town.
Ex: I am happy.
Adjectives: quick, serious, careful, quiet, heavy, bad,…
! Some words are both adjectives and adverbs
> fast, loud, daily, seldom
ADVERBS:
An adverb…
- modifies a verb
- modifies an adjective
- modifies another adverb
Ex: He works hard.
Ex: He is very sick.
Ex: She runs quite fast.
! Never use ‘will’ or ‘would’ in the conditional clauses
Ex: If he will call her now, she won’t answer. > If he calls her now, she won’t answer.
! Unless means ‘if not’, in the sense of ‘except if’
Ex: I’ll take the job, unless the pay is too low.
THE FIRST CONDITIONAL:
We use the first conditional when it’s about situations/actions that will probably
happen in the future.
IF + simple present, WILL + infinitive
CAN
MAY
MIGHT
Ex: If you work harder, you will succeed.
Ex: If he asks me, I might help him.
! SHOULD + infinitive is used instead of a simple present to express that it’s very
improbable that the condition will be fulfilled.
Ex: I will lend you some money if you need some.
I will lend you some money if you should need some.
! You can use a present tense in the main clause if the fulfilment of the condition inevitable to
the result expressed in the main clause (= the zero conditional) (de voorwaarde is
onvermijdelijk)
Ex: Gases expand if they are heated
! If + present tense, imperative is used to give orders
Ex: If it’s snowing, drive carefully.
THE SECOND CONDITIONAL:
The second conditional is used in…
- situations/actions that are less probable in the future
- situations/actions that are unreal in the present
- to make a suggestion more polite
IF + simple past, WOULD + infinitive
(COULD)
(MIGHT)
, Ex: If you worked harder, you would succeed.
Ex: If he asked me, I might helped him.
! ‘Were’ should be used instead of ‘was’. ‘Was’ can be used in a number of sentences
but it’s safer to use ‘were’.
Ex: If I were a rich man, I would buy a big new car.
! The second conditional is also used to make a suggestion more polite.
Ex: It would be nice if you came with me.
THE THIRD CONDITIONAL:
The third conditional is used in situations/actions that did not take place in the past
IF + past perfect, WOULD + HAVE + past participle
COULD
MIGHT
Ex: If you worked harder, you would have succeed.
Ex: If he asked me, I might have helped him.
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:
ADJECTIVES:
An adjective…
- modifies a noun
- appears after certain verbs (= to be, to feel, to seem,… = copula verbs)
Ex: It’s a nice town.
Ex: I am happy.
Adjectives: quick, serious, careful, quiet, heavy, bad,…
! Some words are both adjectives and adverbs
> fast, loud, daily, seldom
ADVERBS:
An adverb…
- modifies a verb
- modifies an adjective
- modifies another adverb
Ex: He works hard.
Ex: He is very sick.
Ex: She runs quite fast.
