The first conditional! Like the zero conditional people think it's easy!
But i'm telling you it's not! It's easy at first but it gets
so much more complicated and you need to know these complications for
the B2 First exam! My name is Toby, this is SMASH English
and here is everything and I mean everything that
you need to know about the first conditional
for the B2 First Cambridge exam!
Let's start with the basics and I mean the
very basics, but keep watching until the end of the video
because you are going to see some things that will change the way you look at the
first conditional forever! Forever! Here is the most
boring first conditional in the world! The first conditional that every teacher
uses! If you study you will pass the exam.
So boring! So again we have two clauses: we have the condition
"if you study" and the result "you will pass the
exam". The grammar then is if plus subject plus present simple plus subject
plus will plus infinitive. We use the first conditional to talk about
things that are likely or probable to happen in the future. And most
English lessons on the first conditional finish
here, but not this one! Let's make things complicated and
terrible because that's what I like to do to improve your knowledge. And
knowledge is power and if you know the knowledge you will
be like me! An english God! That is not what I am... What am I talking
about? You can use any present tense and
any future tense. Yup. ANY present tense and yup ANY future tense. The important
thing is that we have if plus a present tense and then plus a future
tense. We could use the present simple with the future continuous.
If my pet bird dies I will be crying for years.
We could use the present perfect with the future simple.
If they haven't done their homework I will be so
angry. Or we can go crazy, and i'm really sorry
for doing this to you... We could use the present continuous with the future
perfect continuous. If I'm still living here next year I will have been living
here for 10 years. We could use the present simple with the
future perfect. If you eat all that you will have eaten
6000 calories in an hour. See!
Already the simple first conditional is looking a lot
more complicated. You can change the clause order
so put the result clause first and the condition
clause second. This doesn't change the meaning.
We can replace if. Okay so we have a lot of options here so
pay attention. Conjunctions of time. We can replace if with time conjunctions
like after, as soon as, before, until, when. After you've eaten all of that
you'll feel sick as soon. As I arrive I will call you. Before you submit your
essay I'll check it for you. When you see me
dance you will be amazed and not in a good way. Unless.
We can replace if with unless (like the zero conditional) and this
changes the meaning. Normally we put the result clause first
when we do this otherwise it seems a bit too formal. For example: I'll go to the
party unless she goes too. This means that I
will go to the party if she doesn't go because I hate her.
Eww, "her"... gross... In case. We can replace if with in case
but this changes the meaning. In case means "in preparation for the possibility
that". We are preparing for something we think
might happen. For example we will bring
umbrellas in case it rains. This doesn't mean
it is raining. It doesn't mean it is going to rain.
It means it might rain and in preparation for that possibility
we will bring our umbrellas. I will book a table
in case the restaurant is busy. I do not know if the restaurant will be busy or
not, but there is a possibility that it will
be and in preparation for that possibility
i will book a table. We can use modal verbs. We can replace
will with may or might if we think something is less probable. For example:
After you have eaten all of that food you might be sick.
I am not sure that you will be sick and because I'm not sure
I replace will with might. If they are on special
offer I may buy them. I am not certain I will buy them
and so I've said may instead of will. We can make offers or give advice.
We can also use the first conditional for
offers and advice. To do this we replace will with can for an
offer or should for advice. For example: if you see her you really should
apologize. If you are too scared to apologize I can
do that for you if you want, because I'm a great
guy! Look at me... And you thought the first
conditional was easy? How wrong you were...
But it is easy if you know how and i'm telling you how
so say thank you because now you know everything about the first conditional
so no one can stop you from reaching your dreams!
And now, like I said at the beginning of the video,
I'm going to show you something something so amazing
that it will change your view of the first conditional
forever! Forever! What conditional is this? If you get home late please
be quiet. Well to me it looks like a zero conditional. Oh and please watch my video
on zero conditionals. Like this one the zero conditional is
much more complicated than you think. However we don't know if
it is the zero conditional. We don't have
enough context. This is because it could
also be a first conditional. A first conditional
without a future tense!? What!? What!? What!? I don't know! This is crazy! If you
are talking about something general then this imperative
is part of a zero conditional. However if we are talking about
a future event then it becomes a first conditional, even though the
grammar has not changed! Oh, English! I hate you so! For the
first conditional maybe you are going out tonight and you
live with your parents or a flatmate and they need to sleep and so they say
"if you get home late please be quiet". But this only applies to one specific
event in the future. For the zero conditional
this becomes a general rule in the house. It was true yesterday, it's true today
and it will be true tomorrow! This ALWAYS applies. Remember the first
conditional is specific! It's talking about something in the
future. The zero conditional is general! It's
always true or it was always true in the past.
Yeah! The zero conditional can also be the past! Watch my video on it
if you didn't know that! Very important! And with that
we are finished! See! The first conditional
is a lot more difficult than most people think but
if you know the rules it really is not a problem!
If you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe if you
haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this
was SMASH English...
you