Conditional sentences are statements discussing known factors or hypothetical situations and their consequences. Complete conditional sentences has two parts. A conditional clause (often referred to as the if-clause) and the consequence or main clause.<\/p>\n
Conditional sentences are used to express that the action in the main clause can only take place if the condition in the if-clause is fulfilled. Always use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the main clause.<\/p>\n
There are 3 conditional clauses in English. They are<\/p>\n
Probable Conditions are used to express sentences which are likely to happen in the future if the sentences in the if clause becomes true. Here the if-clause is said in simple present tense and \u2018main clause\u2019 is said in simple future tense.<\/p>\n
The format of the sentence is<\/p>\n
If clause (simple present tense)<\/p>\n
If + sub + main verb or<\/p>\n
If + sub + auxiliary verb (is, am, are, has, have, do, does)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Main clause (simple future tense)<\/p>\n
Sub + auxiliary verb (will, shall, can, may, must) + main verb (base form)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Eg:<\/p>\n
If you study well, you will pass.<\/p>\n
If you tease the dog, it will bite you.<\/p>\n
If he calls me, I must go with him.<\/p>\n
If I have some money, I will buy a car.<\/p>\n
If I am busy, I can\u2019t attend the meeting.<\/p>\n
I will write a letter to him, if I know his address.<\/p>\n
Improbable Condition<\/h2>\n
Improbable Condition are used to express statements which are not likely to happen in the future or sentences which are completely unrealistic. Here in the if-clause we say a statement which is unreal and it will not come to reality. So the main clause sentence will not happen in the future.<\/p>\n
The if-clause is said in simple past tense and in the main clause an auxiliary model verb (would, should, could, might) is used. The format of the sentence is<\/p>\n
If clause<\/p>\n
If + Sub + main verb (past) or auxiliary verb (were, had, did)<\/p>\n
Please not that was is not used in the if-clause.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Main clause<\/p>\n
Sub + auxiliary verb (would, should, could, might) + main verb (base form)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Eg:<\/p>\n
If you telephoned me, I would come there.<\/p>\n
If I knew his address, I would write a letter to him.<\/p>\n
If they played well, they could win the match.<\/p>\n
If I were a bird, I could fly.<\/p>\n
If I had enough money, I would buy a car.<\/p>\n
Impossible Condition<\/h2>\n
Impossible condition are used to refer to sentences that the present circumstances would be different if something different had happened in the past. It is said impossible condition because the sentence will not be fulfilled because it refers to something which already happened. Look at the sentence below.<\/p>\n
If he had called me, I would have gone with him.<\/p>\n
The first part of the sentence says about a thing that didn\u2019t actually happen in the past. If the first part had happened the second part of the sentence would have come true but the speaker says about a sentence that are likely to happen but regrettably did not happen.<\/p>\n
In this type of sentence we use the past participle form of the sentence in the if clause and the modal auxiliary (would have, should have, could have, might have) and past participle form of the main verb in the main clause<\/p>\n
The format of the sentence is<\/p>\n
If clause<\/p>\n
If + sub + had + main verb (PP) or<\/p>\n
If + sub + had had<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Main clause<\/p>\n
Sub + auxiliary verb (would have, should have, could have, might have) + main verb (PP)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Eg:<\/p>\n
If you had applied for the job, you would have got it.<\/p>\n
If they had played well, they could have won the match.<\/p>\n
If I had had enough money, I would have bought a car.<\/p>\n
If I were you, I would take rest.<\/p>\n
Had I known his address, I would have written a letter to him.<\/p>\n
Had you teased the dog, it would have bitten you.<\/p>\n
Exceptions and Special Cases<\/h2>\n
Use of the Simple Future in the If-Clause<\/h3>\n
Generally speaking, the simple future should be used only in the main clause. One exception is when the action in the if-clause will take place after the action in the main clause. For example, consider the following sentence:<\/p>\n
If aspirin will ease my headache, I will take a couple tonight.<\/p>\n
The action in the if-clause is the aspirin easing the headache, which will take place only after the speaker takes them later that night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere to\u201d in the If-Clause<\/h3>\n
The verb phrase \u2018were to\u2019 is sometimes used in conditional sentences when the likely or unlikely result is particularly awful or unthinkable. In this case, \u2018were to\u2019 is used to place emphasis on this potential outcome. Consider these sentences:<\/p>\n
If I were to be sick, I would miss another day of work.<\/p>\n
Note that the emphatic \u201cwere to\u201d can be used to describe hypothetical scenarios in the present, future, and past.<\/p>\n
Punctuating Conditional Sentences<\/h2>\n
Despite the complex nature of conditional sentences, punctuating them properly is really simple!<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the skinny:<\/p>\n
Use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the main clause.<\/p>\n
If I\u2019d had time, I would have cleaned the house.<\/p>\n
If the main clause precedes the if-clause, no punctuation is necessary.<\/p>\n
I would have cleaned the house if I\u2019d had time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Conditional sentences are statements discussing known factors or hypothetical situations and their consequences. Complete conditional sentences has two parts. A conditional clause (often referred to as the if-clause) and the consequence or main clause. Conditional sentences are used to express that the action in the main clause can only take place if the condition in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":67,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-english"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7pDEj-22","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73,"url":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/english\/english-syllabus","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":0},"title":"English Syllabus","author":"Ranjith","date":"March 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In any competitive exams, questions from the English section are mostly based on English Grammar. Grammar is the fundamental principles or basic rules of a language. If you are thorough with the grammar then you can score good marks in English section. AlphabetSingular and Plural wordsCorrect Spelling of Words Parts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English"","block_context":{"text":"English","link":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/category\/english"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":142,"url":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/english\/tense\/simple-past-tense","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":1},"title":"Simple Past Tense","author":"Ranjith","date":"June 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Simple Past Tense is used to tell about an event which already occurred in the past. Sub + past form of the verb + obj or Sub + did + verb + obj Simple Past Tense should be used in sentences which contain time words which represent the past like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English"","block_context":{"text":"English","link":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/category\/english"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133,"url":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/english\/tense\/present-perfect-tense","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":2},"title":"Present Perfect Tense","author":"Ranjith","date":"April 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"If the result of a previously finished work still exist then it is said in Present Perfect Tense. i.e. this tense is used to say that an action has already completed just before we say about it. This tense is also used to say that an action has already finished\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English"","block_context":{"text":"English","link":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/category\/english"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114,"url":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/english\/tense","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":3},"title":"Tense","author":"Ranjith","date":"April 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There are 3 tenses in English Grammar. They are Past Tense, Present Tense and Future Tense. Past Tense say about an event that occurred in the past. Present tense says about an event that is occurring now and future tense says about an event that will occur in the future.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English"","block_context":{"text":"English","link":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/category\/english"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":206,"url":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/english\/tense\/future-continuous-tense","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":4},"title":"Future Continuous Tense","author":"Ranjith","date":"October 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Future Continuous Tense is used to say that an action will be continuing in the future at a fixed time. When we use the word \u201cWhen\u201d to connect two sentences to use future continuous tense, the sentence that comes along with when is used in simple present tense and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English"","block_context":{"text":"English","link":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/category\/english"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":78,"url":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/english\/types-sentences","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":5},"title":"Types of Sentences in English","author":"Ranjith","date":"March 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There are 4 types of Sentences in English Language. They are Assertive Sentence or Declarative Sentence Imperative Sentence Interrogative Sentence Exclamatory Sentence 1. Assertive Sentence An assertive Sentence or Declarative Sentence is a sentence which makes a statement or expression or an opinion. If said in another words it simply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English"","block_context":{"text":"English","link":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/category\/english"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions\/127"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.examcoaching.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}