Conditional Sentences | Types, and examples

Conditional Sentences | types and examples


Conditional sentences.

Conditional sentences: A sentence with an ‘if clause’ and a ‘result clause’ is called a conditional sentence. There are 5 kinds of conditional sentences. Each of them has its condition and formula. For better learning, you need to follow the rules which I have explained in the article below.

All conditional sentences are based on the following rules.

  • conditional sentences have two clauses, the if and the result in clauses.
  • for separating the two clauses use commas in the conditional sentence. When if clause is used at the beginning of the sentence then a comma comes between them, but if the result clause comes at the beginning of the sentence then remove the comma.

    Example:
  1. If I play well, I will surely win the match.
  2. I will surely win the match if I play well.

3: If and result clauses can be changed into negative and interrogative forms in the conditional sentence, and it gives the proper meaning and sense.

There are 5 types of conditional sentences which are given below.

1. Conditional type 1 (probable condition).

Formula:            (  if + Simple Present +, + future simple.)

Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. It talks about any action that is going to happen in the future if a certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We call it a probable condition too. Because it is supposed to happen in the future. We are not sure whether the condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions look realistic.

Example:
             

  •  If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.
  • I would climb the roof if I could find the ladder.
  • I will pass the IELTS if I study hard.
  • They will win the match if they struggle hard.
  • If she sings the song, I will dance.

I want to send an invitation to a friend. what I need is just to find her address. I am sure that I will find it.

Example:

  • If John has the money, he will buy an apartment.

I know John very well and I know that he is keen on that apartment he earns a sufficient amount of money too. So I think it is very likely that soon he will have the money to buy that apartment.

2. Conditional type 2 (Present unreal).

Formula:                     if + Simple Past, would+ 1st verb.

Conditional Type 2 refers to the situations in the present. It means if the present situation were different that action could happen. But the situation is quite clear I don’t expect the situation to change, however. I just imagine what would happen if the situation would be like that.

Example:             

  • If I found the doctor, I would visit him.

I would like to visit that doctor because I need it. I looked everywhere for him, but I could not find it. So now I think it is rather unlikely that I will find it.

More Examples:

  • If John had the money, he would buy an apartment.
  • I would climb the wall if I found the ladder.
  • They would win the match if they struggled hard. 
  • If she sang a song, I would dance. 
  • If you did not drink wine, we would not be punished

3. Conditional type 3 (past unreal).

Formula:                   if + past perfect, would have 3rd form of the verb.

Conditional Sentences Type III refers to situations in the past. It is quite clear from the meaning any action could have happened in the past if a certain condition had been fulfilled. Things were different than that, however. It is already past we have just imagined what would happen if the situation had been fulfilled.

Example: 

  • If John had the money, he would have bought an apartment.

Now In the above sentence, totally talks about the past. It means sometime in the past John had the interest to buy an apartment, but at that time he did not have money. So it is past.

I knew John and his condition very well and thought he was very interested in that apartment but the situation was not fine. He did not have that amount of money to buy.

4. Zero conditional.

We use Zero Conditional for an action (universal truth) that is always true when the conditions are satisfied.

Example:

  • If you put sugar in coffee, it tastes sweet.
  • If we nourish the orphan, it has rewards.
  • It gets dark if we close all the windows.

Formula:       If + Present Simple, + Present Simple

5. Mixed Conditional (unreal situation).

 Sometimes we use (type II + III) together which is a mixed condition, and the if clause is different from one of the main clauses.

Formula: 

          if + past perfect, would + 1st form of the verb.

  • If I had studied hard, I would be an engineer now.

So I did not study hard now I am nil. It is unreal.