CONDITIONAL TYPE3

READ THE POST ON CONDITIONALS 1 and 2 BEFORE YOU READ THIS ONE.
CONDITIONALS1 and 2

3- CONDITIONAL TYPE 3.

A-Remember that :

*Conditional type 1 is: ‘If + s+ simple present’, ‘ s + future simple’.

We use conditional type1 when we want to talk about something which is possible to happen in the future if there is a certain condition. E.g: If I have a good mark in the exam, I will do “les classes preparatoires’’.

*Conditional type2 is: ‘If + s+ simple past’, ‘S+ would + verb inf.’.

We use conditional type 2 when we want timagine/hypothesize the opposite of a present reality.

This means there is a certain reality in my/our life and I want to imagine if the opposite was the truth. E.g: REALITY——— Ahmed is not in Tinghir today. I can’t invite him to my celebration.

In conditional 2 I say: ‘If Ahmed was present,I would (could) invite him to my celebration.

NOTICE AGAIN that in reality we have ‘’is ‘’ and ‘’can’t invite’’ because that’s reality. And in Conditional 2, we have ‘’was’’ and ‘ would invite’’ because that’s imagining the opposite of reality. This means that the ‘’ simple past’’ in Conditional 2 is not a ‘’ real’’ past. It is a past we use for the present when we are hypothesizing the opposite of reality.

B-What is your guess about Conditional 3 then?

It is clear and simple! Look at this dialog which is about the past first!

Mourad: Did you invite Ahmed to your wedding last summer?

Latifa: No I didn’t invite him!

Mourad: That’s really a pity! You should have invited him, but you didn’t.

Latifa: No ,no, never mind! He was not here in Tinghir last summer; he was working in Agadir. So, if he had been present (= if he hadn’t been absent), I would have invited him.

C-The FORM and the USE of Conditional3: 

Now, I suppose you have an idea about conditional3.Use your mind.

FORM: ‘If + s+ past perfect’, ‘S + would have + past participle’.

Use: when do we use conditional type3?

Look back to conditionals 1 and 2. Now conditional type3 is used when we want to imagine or to hypothesize the opposite of a past reality.

D- Examples:

1- Reality in the past: Ahmed was absent last summer.I didn’t invite him to my wedding.

Conditional3: if Ahmed had been present (= if he hadn’t been absent), I would have invited him.

2- Reality in the past : Mounir was a very good student .He had 17/20 in the bac exam last year.

Conditional3: If Mounir hadn’t been a very good student, he wouldn’t have had 17/20 in the exam.

3- Fred was driving at full speed; he made a serious accident.

If Fred hadn’t been driving at full speed, he wouldn’t have made tan accident.

4- Saddam was against the Americans. Bush toppled him down.

If Saddam hadn’t been against the Americans, Bush wouldn’t have toppled him down.

5- Tarik didn’t revise his lessons well last year. He failed in the bac. Exam. -

Tarik wouldn’t have failed in the bac. exam if he had revised his lessons well. (I have started from the end- the same)

6- My father didn’t get a loan from the bank. So he didn’t buy a new car. –2008 national exam-

My father would have bought a new car if he had got a loan from the bank. (I have started from the end- the same)

7- Salah didn’t buy the farm because he didn’t get financial support from the bank. – 2008 national exam-

If Salah had got financial support from the bank, he would have bought the farm.

8- Some skilled people left their countries because they didn’t get appealing jobs. – mock exam 2010—

If skilled people had got appealing jobs, they wouldn’t have left their countries.

9- Students didn’t understand the lesson. So, they didn’t answer the questions.

If students had understood the lesson, they would have answered the questions.

E- Exercises:

1-There were a lot of accidents last week because it was raining heavily.

If……………………………………………………………………………………

2- Our national foot-ball team didn’t play well. They didn’t qualify for the World Cup finals.

Our national foot-ball team……………………………..if…………….……………

3- Demonstrators were violent. The police intervened.

If…………………………………………………,…………………………………

4- Many Moroccan women were hard-working; they attained higher positions.

Many Moroccan women………………………………………..if…………………..

5- The Americans voted against Bush because he lied to them about Iraq.

If Bush ……………………………………………,Americans……….……………

6- Asmaa didn’t read the exam paper carefully.She skipped many questions.

If Asmaa……………………………………………………………..………………

 

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS HEREconditioanl3 answers

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

CONDITIONALS :

1-What is a conditional sentence?

A conditional sentence is one in which you have two parts-clauses. They are: The “if” clause and the “main clause”.

In the “if- clause” you always have the condition.الشرط.And in the main clause you have the supposed result.

For example we say:

—-If Rashid gets a good mark in the exam, his father will send him on a vacation to Paris.

As you can see in the example above, we have two parts:

*The “if /condition” part in red and the “main/result” part in blue.

When do we get the result in part 2? Of course when the condition in part 1 is satisfied.When the condition in part 1 is true, we will get the result in part 2.

Look! There are three types of conditional sentences. They are all the same in that they all have two parts: the “if clause” and the main/result” clause.

I will explain the three different types of conditional sentences above.

2-CONDITIONALSENTENCES TYPE 1:

A – FORM:

Conditional sentences type 1 is exactly what you have in the example 1 above. Here are three more examples:

1—-If the weather is good tomorrow,I will have a picnic to the gorges.

2—-If I pass my baccalaureate exam, I will study English at university.

3—-If you read a lot of texts, you will have a good English.

NOW HAVE A LOOK AT THE FORM OF THE VERBS IN THE SENTENCES ABOVE.WHAT CAN YOU SEE?

That’s very simple of course! The verb in the first ‘’if clause”

is in the simple present and the verb in the second part, the “result clause” is in the future simple.

So remember this form:A conditional type1

sentence is:

IF + S + SIMPLE PRESENT , S + FUTURE SIMPLE.

B- MEANING:

When do we use conditional type1?

Of course since there is the future in the result clause, everything you have in that clause can happen/occur if the condition in the “if clause” is there.

So we use the 1^st conditional when we want to speak about something that is possible/probable in the future

So remember that the “result” in the main clause is possible to happen, if the condition in the “if clause” happens.

This is what we call also the “real”conditional. It is called real because what we have in the sentence may happen.

MORE EXAMPLES:

a- If our country offersenough jobs, brain drainers will come back.

b- If women have more freedom, our society will be better.

c- If the volcano fog gets thicker on Morocco, more air flights will be postponed.

d- If Ahmed comes in summer, we will have a big celebration.

e- If young people geta good education, they will be able to face their problems.

NOTICE: You can start with the “RESULT CLAUSE” and leave the “IF clause” in the ends. But this doesn’t change anything in the form or meaning of the sentence!

C-EXERCISES: Put the verbs between brackets in the correct form:

a-You will get a good mark in the exam if you (revise) your lessons.

b-If we produce more waste, our planet (be) more polluted.

c-If we empower women, our children (have) a strong personality.

d-You (understand) the other conditional lessons if you get a grasp of conditional1.

e-Many countries will face huge economic problems if the prices of oil (go) up again.

f-America (attack ) Iran if it continues producing nuclear energy.

g-If we preserve our natural resources, we (achieve) sustainable development.

Notice that all the facts in the “result” clause are possibilities.They may happen if the conditions in the “if clauses” are fulfilled.

Download this lesson here:CONDITIONAL TYPE 1

2- CONDITIONAL TYPE2.

Mourad: Hi Moufid. Moufid: Hello Mourad.How are you? Mourad: I am fine thanks .Where are you going now? Moufid: I am going to the mountain with my friends. Mourad:Oh my God! Going to the mountain in this terrible weather!! Moufid:Oh yes! I don’t mind the bad weather. Would you like to go with us? Mourad: Oh I am sorry I really can’t go with you because the weather is very bad now. It may rain. IF THE WEATHER WAS GOOD, I WOULD GO WITH YOU. Moufid: Take care and see you. I will go anyway.

Now read this dialogue and try to understand two things: The form and the use of conditional sentences type2.

Now pay attention to the sentence in red.That’s exactly conditional type2.

Is Mourad going to the mountain?Of course he says he is not going because the weather is very bad.

A- SO WHAT DOES THE “if” sentence express then?

—– “IF THE WEATHER WAS GOOD, I WOULD GO WITH YOU.’’

The conditional type2 sentence then expresses an idea which is the opposite of a present reality.It is not the present reality.It is what we imagine a contrary to a present fact or reality.In the example above, the reality is “I am not going to the mountains because the weather is very bad” ——– and the unreality/imagination/hypothesis is:

—–“IF THE WEATHER WAS GOOD, I WOULD GO WITH YOU.”

Conditional type 2 then is NOT a real conditional. It is not like conditional type 1.In conditional type 1 we have the future and the sentence is possible. BUT, in conditional type 2 the

sentence is what the speaker thinks is IMPOSIBLE/OR IMAGINARY.

B- The FORM of Conditional type 2 sentences:

Like conditional type1, conditional2 has also tw parts:The “if clause”and the “main clause”.So if you see the example of Mourad above,you will discoverthis form:

IF + SUBJECT + SIPMLE PAST, S + WOULD + VERB infinitive

_{Notice then that the sentence in conditional type2 is about the present.}

And why do we have the verb in the simple past and “would/inf” in the other part?

This is exactly what makes it “unreal”. Simply because that’s not a real past. The past in the sentence is used simple because WE ARE NOT SPEAKING ABOUT A PRESENT REALITY.WE ARE IMAGINING THE OPPOSITE OF A PRESENT REALITY.

In other words, WE ARE HYPOTHESISING the opposite of a present reality.

WHAT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER THEN IS:

a- We use conditional type2 to speak about a  imaginary/unreal idea about the present. b- The form of Conditional2 is: If + s + verb simple past , S would+ inf.

C-EXERCISES:

A- Use the verbs between brackets in the correct form:

a- If the weather was good now, I (go) to the gorges. But the weather is bad.

b- If Ahmed had a car, he (take) us to the forest. But unfortunately he doesn’t have a car, so we have to take a taxi.

c- I would help you with this exercise if I (be ) there with you.

d- Many emigrants would stay in their countries if they (find) jobs. But since most of them are jobless, they prefer to emigrate.

e- Our environment (be ) clean if we had stopped producing waste. We are still polluting it, however.

f- If we (be) serious about pollution, we would spend more money on reducing gas emissions.

B- Now you will have present “realities” in the following sentences,rewrite them as indicated.

g- Jamal doesn’t speak English. He can’t communicate with tourists.

If……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

h- This lesson is easy. I can do all the exercises correctly.

I wouldn’t……………………………………if……………………………………

i- Many Moroccans who are abroad are now returning to their country because there more opportunities than in the past.

If…………….……………………………………….many Moroccans……….

j- People use a lot of cars; they pollute our planet.

If people…………………………………………………………………………….

k- Some women are illiterate; they face many social problems.

Some women wouldn’t…………………………………………………………

l- Rashid has a good knowledge of English.This lesson is easy for him.——–If this lesson…………………………………………………………..

DOWNLOAD PDF LESSON HERE:conditional type2

EXPECT CONDITIONAL3 SOON!!!

download and check your answers to the exercises on conditional 1 and conditional 2 above from here.CONDITIONAL key answers to the exercises.