Mastering Conditional Sentences in English
Understanding Conditionals
Conditional sentences express a condition and its result. They are essential for expressing hypothetical situations, wishes, and regrets. Let’s look at some examples:
Unfortunately, the teacher won’t cancel the math test.
I wish the teacher would cancel the math test.
I’m sad that we haven’t got a dog.
I wish I had a dog.
Joe is sorry that he ate all the chocolates.
Joe wishes he hadn’t eaten all the chocolates.
Pam will help you, but only if you pay her.
Unless you pay Pam, she won’t help you.
My advice to you is that you ought to lose weight.
If I were you, I would lose weight.
I enjoyed the lecture. The topic was unimportant.
In spite of the unimportant topic, I enjoyed the lecture.
Tina didn’t come to our friend’s meeting. It was really a pity.
I wish Tina had come to our friend’s meeting.
My father is being sent to South America on a special mission.
They are sending my father to South America on a special mission.
Ana passed all her exams. She had studied very hard.
Unless Ana had studied very hard, she wouldn’t have passed all her exams.
My advice to you is to go on a diet.
If I were you, I would go on a diet.
You should go on a diet.
Mary will only come to the party if Peter is invited.
Unless Peter is invited, Mary won’t come to the party.
If you want my opinion, it would be a good idea to stop eating so many sweets.
If I were you, I would stop eating so many sweets.
Be careful or you will hurt yourself.
If you aren’t careful, you will hurt yourself.
If you are careful, you won’t hurt yourself.
Unless you are careful, you will hurt yourself.
He doesn’t speak very clearly – that’s why people don’t understand him.
If he spoke more clearly, people would understand him.
We don’t go out very often because we can’t afford it.
If we could afford it, we would go out very often.
The accident happened because the driver in front stopped so suddenly.
If the driver in front hadn’t stopped so suddenly, the accident wouldn’t have happened.
Margaret wasn’t injured in the crash because she was wearing a seat belt.
If Margaret hadn’t been wearing a seat belt, she would have been injured in the crash.
I didn’t get a taxi because I didn’t have any money on me.
If I had had any money on me, I would have got a taxi.
Eat up your vegetables or you won’t get any pudding.
If you don’t eat up your vegetables, you won’t get any pudding.
If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you can’t come to the meeting.
Unless I hear from you, I’ll assume you can’t come to the meeting.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to bed late the night before the exam.
If I were you, I wouldn’t go to bed late the night before the exam.
We don’t visit you very often because you live so far away.
If you lived nearer, we would visit you more often.
If you didn’t live so far away, we would visit you more often.
That book is too expensive, so I’m not going to buy it.
If the book was less expensive, I would buy it.
If the book was cheaper, I would buy it.
I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t eat anything.
If I had been hungry, I would have eaten something.
I was able to buy the car only because Jim lent me the money.
If Jim hadn’t lent me the money, I wouldn’t have bought the car.
You didn’t have any breakfast – that’s why you’re hungry now.
If you had had any breakfast, you wouldn’t be hungry now.