Essential English Grammar: Conditionals & Verb Forms
English Conditional Sentences
Conditional sentences are used to talk about hypothetical situations and their consequences.
First Conditional
Used to talk about likely events in the future if something happens.
- If I pass Cambridge First, I’ll have a big party!
- If you don’t stop talking, I’ll send you to the head teacher.
Formula: (If + present tense + future tense will)
Second Conditional
Used to talk about unlikely or impossible situations.
- If I won the lottery, I’d give all the money to Oxfam.
- People might behave differently if they had the chance to repeat their lives.
Formula: (If + past tense + would, could, might)
Third Conditional
Used to speculate about the past.
- If we’d had more money, we’d have gone to the States last year.
- If Tom had taken his guitar, he could have played with the band that night.
Formula: (If + past perfect + would have, could have, might have + past participle)
(Unit 21 deals with mixed conditionals.)
Using “Unless” in Conditionals
Unless is a conjunction meaning ‘if not’, so the clause following unless never contains a negative verb form:
- I’ll see you at the station at 7:00 unless I hear from you.
- Unless we book train tickets in advance, we won’t get a discount.
Unit 7: Gerunds and Infinitives
The Gerund
The gerund is a verb which is used as a noun. It can be the subject of a clause or sentence: Climbing the hill took them all day, or the object: I consider learning to save to be an essential part of growing up.
When to Use the Gerund
- After certain verbs and expressions, especially those expressing liking/disliking:
- I don’t mind getting up early in the morning.
Common Examples:
- like, love, enjoy, adore, fancy, feel, don’t mind
- detest, hate, loathe, can’t stand, dislike
- finish, avoid, give up, keep, miss
- suggest, consider, imagine
- it’s not worth, it’s/there’s no use, there’s no point (in)
- After all prepositions except to
(Some exceptions to this rule are: to look forward to doing, to object to doing, to get used to doing.)
- On hearing the news, she burst into tears.
- After adjective and preposition combinations
- Steven is fantastic at cooking Thai food.
Common Examples:
- good/wonderful/fantastic/bad/awful/terrible at
- happy/pleased/glad/anxious/sad/worried about
- afraid/frightened/scared/terrified of
- interested in
- keen on
- capable of
- proud of
Another common use is with the noun difficulty (to have difficulty in).
- After verb and preposition combinations
- I don’t approve of people drinking and driving.
Common Examples:
- insist on, approve of, apologise for
- consist of, believe in, succeed in
- accuse someone of, congratulate someone on
- After phrasal verbs
- I gave up playing tennis when I hurt my knee.
The Infinitive
The infinitive is used:
When to Use the Infinitive
- After certain verbs
- I learnt to speak Spanish in Valencia.
Common Examples:
- afford, agree, ask, choose, help
- intend, pretend, promise, expect
- hope, prefer
- After certain adjectives
- I was surprised to see him at the party.
Common Examples:
- difficult, possible, happy, certain, simple
- After verbs which follow the pattern verb + someone + to do + something
- I asked her to open the window.
Common Examples:
- want, used, encourage, permit, allow, persuade, teach, force
- To express purpose
- I went to the shops to get some bread.
The Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without “to”)
This is also used after modal auxiliaries (can, must), after let, had better and would rather.
Make has no to in the active, but adds to in the passive:
- I made him go to school.
- He was made to go to school.