Free English lesson with Notes - Grammar - Conditional 1 vs Conditional 2 (A2-B1)

FIRST CONDITIONAL

SECOND CONDITIONAL

We use First Conditional to describe possible future situations.

We use Second Conditional to describe present or future situations which are imaginary / hypothetical or unlikely to happen.

If + present simple,

will + V

If + past simple

would + V

If I come back home earlier,
If you aren’t free tonight,
If you go with her now

I will call you.
I will visit you later.
you won’t pass the exam.
I won’t talk to you again.

If I had enough time,
If Mike didn’t train hard,
If I didn’t have a dog,
If he bought me flowers,

I would go with you.
he would lose tomorrow.
I wouldn’t go for a walk.
I wouldn’t be sad.

1. We can use when instead of if to show that some-thing is 100% certain to happen.
   
   e.g.: When I see John, I will tell him everything.

2. We can use a modal verb can/may/might when we are less sure about the result, but it’s possible.
   
   e.g.: If you train more, you can win this competition.

1. We often use were instead of was with “I”. We use “If I were you…” to give advice.
   
   e.g.: If I were you, I would tell them a secret.

2. We can use a modal verb could/might when we are less sure about the result, but it could be possible.
   
   e.g.: If you spent less money, you could buy a flat very soon.

USE IT RIGHT!

We do not use will or would after if, we use present simple/past simple instead:

e.g.: If I have enough time tomorrow, I will let you know, If I will have…
If I had more money, I would buy a car. If I would have…

We can change the place of clauses without changing the meaning, but we put a comma only when an if-clause comes first:

e.g.: If you read more books, you will know more. = You will know more if you read more books.
If I had a cat, I would be happy. = I would be happy If I had a cat.