Hello everyone; my name is Chris. I'm an English teacher; this is a free grammar
lesson published on YouTube - Learn British English Free and on the British
English page on Facebook.
Please use captions or subtitles to read my words on the screen and for this
lesson I've written the explanations in the notes below on YouTube; above on
Facebook. Please read with me - the subject is the second conditional. Maybe you know
about the conditionals in English, don't worry - I will explain this one. Both the
form and the concepts. Let's start with the example; I can then explain after
that. An example of the second condition: if I were you, I would ask her out
or we can change the pronunciation: if I were you, I'd ask her out
I would becomes I'd - contracted. The first part of the sentence (if I were you), we
have "if". "If" is a very important word with the conditionals:
if plus "I" (the subject), plus the verb in the past tense: "were". Therefore, if plus
the past tense - this is important then a comma, "I" (the subject), "would" and a verb in
the bare infinitive: to ask but no "to". This is the bare infinitive: no "to". Ask. If
I were you, I'd ask her out. We can change it though to move "if". This way it would
sound like this: I would ask her out if I were you. When "if" is in the middle of the
sentence, we don't need a comma. This is an important punctuation point. What can
we say about the second conditional - what is the meaning? In terms of the time, it can
be relevant now - in the present - or in a future, hypothetical situation. We're
imagining a situation as it could be; the probability of this is extremely small.
Let's compare it to the first conditional - if it rains tomorrow I'll
stay inside... In the first conditional, the
general rule is the probability of something happening is around 50%; with
the second conditional that probability is very very small or barely there. This
is the difference between the first and second conditional. If it rains tomorrow,
I'll stay inside. That's the first conditional, so there's a good chance
that it could rain tomorrow. Second conditional example:
I'd stay inside if it were to snow tomorrow. Therefore, because snow is very
unusual in the UK, the probability is tiny - we really don't expect it to happen
but you never know. In terms of practicing this, if you're a teacher you
could ask this question: if you were stuck on a desert island, what five
things would you choose to have? You can ask them to phrase the answer as in: if I
was stuck on a desert island, I would choose five things... I've used that before
in lessons - it is quite a good way to practice but there are many more ways as
well. Thank you for watching this brief explanation. I've discussed the structure -
the form of the second conditional; the meaning with some examples. This is a free
grammar lesson on Learn British English Free on YouTube and the British English
Page on Facebook. You can also check out the lessons on the website:
www.learnbritishenglish.co.uk/ in Cambridge in England. Thank you for watching. Please
write to me with some comments; your feedback - was the lesson good or bad? Did
you like it? What are your ideas? What are your suggestions? You can write anything
that you like to me; I am not easily offended, don't worry. I have more lessons
coming soon about different subjects but they are free as well so I will see you
then. Bye for now - and thank you.