What if conditional

Amount of , number of or quantity of? Any more or anymore? Anyone , anybody or anything? Apart from or except for? Arise or rise? Around or round? Arouse or rouse? As or like? As , because or since? As , when or while? Been or gone? Begin or start? Beside or besides? Between or among? Born or borne? Bring , take and fetch Can , could or may? Classic or classical? Come or go? Consider or regard? Consist , comprise or compose? Content or contents? Different from , different to or different than?

Do or make? Down , downwards or downward? During or for? Each or every? East or eastern ; north or northern? Economic or economical? Efficient or effective? Elder , eldest or older , oldest? End or finish? Especially or specially? Except or except for?

Expect , hope or wait? Experience or experiment? Fall or fall down? Far or a long way? Farther , farthest or further , furthest? Fast , quick or quickly? Fell or felt? Female or feminine ; male or masculine? Finally , at last , lastly or in the end? First , firstly or at first? Fit or suit? Following or the following? For or since? Forget or leave? Full or filled? Fun or funny?

Get or go? Grateful or thankful? Hear or listen to? High or tall? Historic or historical? House or home? How is …? If or when? If or whether? Ill or sick? Imply or infer? In the way or on the way? Late or lately?

Lay or lie? Lend or borrow? Less or fewer? Look at , see or watch? Low or short? Man , mankind or people? Maybe or may be? Maybe or perhaps? Nearest or next? Never or not … ever? Nice or sympathetic? No doubt or without doubt? No or not? Nowadays , these days or today? Open or opened? Opportunity or possibility? Opposite or in front of? Other , others , the other or another? Out or out of? Permit or permission?

Person , persons or people? Pick or pick up? Play or game? Politics , political , politician or policy? Price or prize? Principal or principle? Quiet or quite? Zero conditional sentences express general truths—situations in which one thing always causes another. Consider the following examples:. When people smoke cigarettes, their health suffers.

There are a couple of things to take note of in the above sentences in which the zero conditional is used. First, when using the zero conditional, the correct tense to use in both clauses is the simple present tense. A common mistake is to use the simple future tense.

When people smoke cigarettes, their health will suffer. Secondly, notice that the words if and when can be used interchangeably in these zero conditional sentences. First conditional sentences are used to express situations in which the outcome is likely but not guaranteed to happen in the future. Look at the examples below:. If you rest, you will feel better. Note that we use the simple present tense in the if-clause and simple future tense in the main clause—that is, the clause that expresses the likely outcome.

This is how we indicate that under a certain condition as expressed in the if-clause , a specific result will likely happen in the future.

Examine some of the common mistakes people make using the first conditional structure:. If you will rest , you will feel better. If you rest , you will feel better. Explanation: Use the simple present tense in the if-clause. If you set your mind to a goal, you eventually achieve it. Explanation: Use the zero conditional i.

If the result is likely, use the first conditional i. Second conditional sentences are useful for expressing outcomes that are completely unrealistic or will not likely happen in the future. Consider the examples below:. If I inherited a billion dollars, I would travel to the moon. If I owned a zoo, I might let people interact with the animals more. We use the zero conditional to talk about permanent truths, such as scientific facts, and general habits.

The structure is simple:. If you eat a lot, you put on weight. If we go out with friends, we normally go to a restaurant. We use the first conditional to talk about a realistic situation in the present or future.

The structure of the first conditional is as follows:. If we arrive late, we must get a taxi. We use the second conditional to talk about improbable or impossible situations in the present or future. Here is the structure:. What would you do if you were offered a job in Canada? A common expression used to give advice has the second conditional structure.

We use the third conditional to talk about impossible situations, as in the second conditional, in the past. We often use the third conditional to describe regrets.

The structure is:.