This is New York in Slow English.
Hi.
My name is Connie.
And today I'm going to teach you about the 4 different ways that we use the conditional.
Before we begin, please make sure you click on the red button to subscribe.
Hang in there through the grammar lesson because afterwards I'll take you out into the street
and you can hear real people speaking real English as they use these conditionals.
Ok.
Let's dive in.
In English, we use conditionals to talk about something happening that is dependent on something
else happening first.
So, we use a complex sentence structure to express this.
The first part is an independent clause that is the result.
And the second part is the condition, which is always introduced by the word "if".
Now, these 2 parts can be in either order.
It doesn't matter which comes first.
So, an example of an if clause would be, "If the weather is good".
And an example of an independent clause following that would be, "we'll go to the beach."
Another example of an if clause is, "If I bought this bathing suit," which I would follow
with an independent part of the sentence that is, "I would wear it to the beach."
So, the if clause always expresses the condition, and the independent clause in the sentence
always expresses the result.
So, what makes conditionals a little bit tricky is the verb tenses.
Now the verb tenses that we select actually shade the meaning.
This is what makes them so beautiful.
They shade the meaning and reflect the amount of possibility that we believe is going to
happen with the result.
So, let's begin with our first example.
This is sometimes called the zero conditional, but I like to call it the certain conditional
because when we use this conditional, we are absolutely certain that the result is going
to happen.
We form this conditional by using the present tense in the if clause, and the present tense
in the resulting independent clause.
The next conditional is sometimes called the first conditional.
But I like to call it the possible conditional because in this case we believe that there
is a possibility that if the if clause condition is met, then the resulting independent clause
could actually happen.
The grammatical sentence structure for this type of conditional is that the if clause
is in the present tense, and the resulting independent clause is in some form of the
future tense.
So, typically we would use the word "will".
But we could also say "going to".
Or, if you're talking to people on the street, you will hear it shortened to "gonna".
The next conditional is sometimes called the second conditional, but I like to call it
the imaginary conditional, or the unreal conditional.
This is a situation where you're talking about the present or you're talking about the future,
but you really just don't think that it's possible or that it could happen.
But you could imagine it happening.
So, the sentence structure for this type of conditional is where things begin to get a
little bit confusing.
So, even though we're talking about something that is happening in the present or might
happen in the future, when we use the if clause we use the past tense.
This is communicating that you don't really think that it's possible.
And the resulting independent clause uses the word "would" plus the main part of the
verb you want to express.
OK.
And now we come to the final type of conditional that we use.
This one is sometimes called the third conditional, but I like to call it the impossible conditional,
or the completely unreal conditional.
In this conditional we're talking about something that happened in the past.
It really expresses the idea of "what if?
What if that had happened?"
OK.
But it is impossible.
It can't ever happen.
Why?
Because it happened in the past.
We can't go back and change the past.
Now the sentence structure for this type of conditional is very complicated.
And really, you just have to practice it.
It's formed by using the past perfect in the if clause, and by using "would have" plus
the past participle of the main verb in the resulting independent clause.
OK.
Don't stress about this.
I'm gonna take you out into the street and show you some real life examples of where
people are using these 4 different conditionals.
I went to get my hair cut last week, and I heard a few different conditionals while I
was there.
If I cut that too short, your ear is gonna show.
This is an example of a possible conditional.
She uses the word "cut" in the present tense in the if clause, and follows it with the
future in the independent clause.
If I spray you with water, I can see how your hair falls better.
Here is an example of the zero conditional, or the certain conditional.
She is saying that when she does this, every time, the result is the same.
Every time.
She is certain of it.
She uses the present tense in the if clause, and follows it with the present tense in the
result.
Thank you so much for giving me an appointment today.
No problem.
If you had come any earlier, I wouldn't have been able to get you in.
This is an excellent example of the impossible conditional.
And you can see how complicated this sentence is.
She uses the past perfect "had come" and follows it with the "wouldn't have" which she has
contracted from "would not have".
And uses the past participle "been able".
I think the food here is actually really pretty good.
It tastes, like, really fresh.
Yes, it's definitely really fresh.
We have a time limit on the time to keep the food out.
If it's out too long, we have to take it away.
This is a very good example of the zero conditional, or certain conditional.
She uses the present tense in both parts of her sentence.
It was Valentine's Day, and I went down to the Union Square Farmers Market to see if
I could find some kind of present for my husband.
I got there pretty late in the day, and I saw this sign where it looked like almost
everything was sold out.
Hi.
I saw your sign out there.
Do you have any pickled eggs left?
No, I'm sorry.
If you had come earlier, we would have had some for you.
This vendor is talking about the past.
So we have here a situation where it's an impossible conditional.
You can hear her using the past perfect in the if clause followed by "would have" plus
the past participle "had" in the resulting independent clause.
Your tomato juice is $8.50 for a half a gallon.
That's correct.
But I got a deal for you.
If you buy a gallon, I give you a deal.
This friendly man was so fun to talk to.
But he makes a typical mistake where he's really wanting to express the possible conditional,
but he uses the certain conditional sentence structure.
So, the correct sentence structure is to use the present tense in the if clause "buy",
followed by the future tense in the resulting independent clause "will give".
These mushrooms are really really interesting looking.
But, if I bought them, I wouldn't really know what to do with them.
Here's an example of the imaginary conditional, or second conditional.
What I"m trying to say here is that I am not going to buy these mushrooms.
It is not going to happen.
But I could imagine if I did buy them that I wouldn't know what to do.
Well, if you try our tea tour for a dollar, you can try all 4 teas, then we'll credit
you toward any other purchase you make.
OK.
So, here is a very good example of the possible conditional.
And this is, in fact, the most common way that we use conditionals, and very common
when you are negotiating something.
So, you will often see this in a marketplace where you're trying to get a deal on something.
He very clearly uses the present tense in the if part of the sentence, followed by the
future tense in the independent clause.
Wow.
These jams look amazing.
If you tasted this, you would want to buy it.
Clearly this vendor doesn't believe that I'm going to taste it because she is using the
imaginary conditional here.
She uses the past tense in the if clause followed by "would" and the main part of the verb in
the second part of the sentence.
I really love your drawings.
Thanks.
If you give me $5, I'll do a drawing of you.
Really?
Yeah.
That sounds spectacular.
OK.
He uses the possible conditional.
But interestingly, notice that in spoken English we use a lot of contractions.
So, he means "will do", but he contracts it to "I'll do".
I thought this might be kind of a funny present to give my husband for Valentine's Day.
What do you think?
Does it look like me?
It's definitely a weird but fun Valentine's present.
What do you want to study next?
Please leave me some suggestions down below.
And please subscribe.
I'll see you next time on New York in Slow English.