What is a conditional sentence (with examples)

What is a conditional sentence? (with examples)

A conditional sentence is a sentence that gives a condition (eg if it snows) and the result of the condition occurring (eg the game will be cancelled).

Easy Examples of Conditional Sentences

In each example below, the clause expressing the condition is highlighted.

There are four types of conditional sentences:

Type	Function	Example
zero conditional	Expresses something as a fact	If you sleep, you dream.
first conditional	States the result of a possible future event occurring	If you get some sleep, you will feel better.
second conditional	States the result of an unlikely event occurring or an untruth being true	If you became an insomniac, you would understand. (unlikely event occurring) If you were an insomniac, you would understand. (untruth being true)
third conditional	States how the situation would be different with a different past	If you had slept last night, you would have beaten your record.

Some Real-Life Examples of Zero Conditional Sentences

A zero conditional sentence expresses a general fact (ie, a situation in which one thing always causes another).

• If you rest, you rust. (Actress Helen Hayes)
• If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can’t, you are right. (Business magnate Henry Ford)
• You do ill if you praise, but you do worse if you censure, what you do not understand. (Polymath Leonardo da Vinci)

Estructura: con una oración condicional cero, el tiempo presente simple se usa en ambas cláusulas. Además, las palabras si y cuándo son intercambiables.

• If I make money, I’m happy. When I lose money, I’m happy. (Gambling magnate Lui Che Woo)
  (With a zero-conditional sentence, the message is expressed as a fact. That doesn’t mean it’s true of course.)

Some Real-Life Examples of First Conditional Sentences

Algunos ejemplos de la vida real de primeras oraciones condicionales

• If one swain [young lover] scorns you, you will soon find another. (Roman poet Virgil)
• If I like a food, even if it’s bad for me, I will eat it. (Reality TV star Kim Kardashian)

Structure: With a first conditional sentence, the simple present tense is used in the if clause and the simple future tense is used in the main clause.

Some Real-Life Examples of Second Conditional Sentences

A second conditional sentence states the result of an unlikely event occurring (for example, if the boat sank) or a falsehood being true (for example, if they arrived on time).

• If I won the lottery, I would still love you. I’d miss you, but I’d still love you. (Comedian Frank Carson)
• If I saw a heat wave, I would wave back. (Comedian Steven Wright)
• If I had any humility, I would be perfect. (Media mogul Ted Turner)
• If you set out to be liked, you would compromise on everything and achieve nothing. (Margaret Thatcher)

Estructura: con una segunda oración condicional, el tiempo pasado simple se usa en la cláusula if, y would (raramente debería o podría) con la forma base de un verbo se usa en la cláusula principal.

Today, it is safe to say that the simple past tense is used in the if clause, but in fact it is the past subjunctive, which is identical to the simple past tense except when I and he/she/it are used with the verb to be (for example, if I were a millionaire, if she tried). (There is an entry on the subjunctive mood.)

• If I were a rich man, all day long I’d biddy-biddy-bum. (Extract from“Fiddler on the Roof“)
  (I’d is short for I would. To biddy-biddy-bum must be a verb.)
• Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny. (Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking)

That said, it is now common to see the simple past tense used in all circumstances.

• If I was a man, I don’t know whether I’d settle down long before I was 50. (Journalist Mariella Frostrup)

Some Real-Life Examples of Third Conditional Sentences

Third conditional sentences express how the situation would be different if the past had been different.

• If my lawyer and I had communicated properly in January 1958, this whole history would have been entirely different. (Inventor of the laser Gordon Gould, who fought unsuccessfully to patent it)
• If I had learned education, I would not have had time to learn anything else. (Business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt)
• If I had known how hard it would be to do something new in the payments industry, I would never have started PayPal. (Co-founder of PayPal Peter Thiel)

Con una tercera oración condicional, el tiempo pasado perfecto se usa en la cláusula if, y would have (raramente podría tener) con un participio pasado se usa en la cláusula principal.

More about Conditional Sentences

If-clauses without an If. An if clause can be introduced with other terms, such as when, unless, whenever, and whenever, or using inversion (for example, if available, it would be selected).

• I will swim unless the water is too cold.
• I will swim as long as the water is not too cold.
• I will swim provided that the water is not too cold.

When they introduce an if clause, when, whenever and whenever can be replaced by if. Also, unless it can be overridden with an if..not construct (for example, if the water isn’t too cold). Therefore, the term if clause, although some grammarians dislike it, is quite accurate. It certainly is convenient.

Mixed conditionals. Occasionally a conditional sentence“will steal“the structures of two different types of conditional sentences. This most commonly occurs with a conditional sentence that uses the structure of a second conditional sentence for one clause and the structure of a third conditional sentence for the other. These are called mixed conditionals.

• If we were smarter, we wouldn’t have set off in this weather.
  (The if-clause is second-conditional structure. The main is third-conditional structure.)
• If you had checked the weather, we wouldn’t be stranded now.
  (The if-clause is third-conditional structure. The main is second-conditional structure.)

Los condicionales mixtos como estos se usan típicamente para expresar arrepentimiento por acciones o inacciones pasadas.

Why Should I Care about Conditional Sentences?

Fortunately, the vast majority of native English speakers can create conditional sentences from all 4“flavors“and the“flavors“combined without error. It’s because native English speakers are naturally good at tenses. That said, there are some pretty common timing related mishaps worth covering and also a point about the use of commas.

(Point 1) Using a comma with an if-clause.

When the if clause precedes the main clause, use a comma after the if clause.

• If I were white, I could capture the world. (African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge, 1922-65)
• If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research. (Playwright Wilson Mizner)

Si la cláusula principal precede a la cláusula if, no use una coma antes de la cláusula if (a menos que crea que ayuda al lector).

• Dreams grow if you grow. (Author Zig Ziglar)
• There are consequences if you act militarily, and there are big consequences if you don’t act. (US Diplomat Dennis Ross)

Aquí hay un ejemplo que resume todo:

• There are economic risks if we leave. If we remain, there are economic risks. (Politician Michael Gove)

(Issue 2) Using the wrong tense in one of your clauses.

Time errors can creep in. Below are the most common with each structure.

Zero-conditional Structure.
To express something as a fact, writers must use the zero conditional structure (if + simple present tense, simple present tense). However, writers sometimes use the first conditional structure (if + simple present tense, simple future tense), which states the result of the occurrence of a possible future event.

• If you sleep, you will dream. ❌
• When dogs die, they will go to doggy heaven. ❌
  (In both examples, the will should be deleted.)

With this error, the sentence structure is grammatically correct. However, it is the incorrect sentence structure that affects the intended meaning.

First-conditional Structure. With the first conditional structure, writers sometimes use the simple future tense (instead of the simple present tense) in the if clause.

• If you will get some sleep, you will feel better.
• You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want. (Author Zig Ziglar)
  (In both examples, the will should probably be deleted.)

These have not been marked as incorrect because this structure is sometimes used to emphasize that future action must occur. (And that’s a good way out if you ever get arrested for this mistake.)

Second-conditional Structure. With the second conditional structure, writers sometimes use the simple present tense (instead of the simple past tense) in the if clause.

• If you become an insomniac, you would understand. ❌
  (If you became an insomniac would be correct.)

The next most common mistake is to use will (instead of would) in the main clause.

• If you became an insomniac, you will understand. ❌
  (You would understand would be correct.)

Third-conditional Structure. With the third conditional structure, writers sometimes use would have (instead of the past perfect tense) in the if clause.

• If you would have slept last night, you would have beaten your record. ❌
  (If you had slept last night would be correct.)

Key Points

• When the if clause is before the main clause, use a comma.
• Do not use a comma when the if clause is after the main clause.