If I Pass, I'll Apply; If I Were the Minister, I'd Build Libraries: the First and Second Conditionals – Education and Personal Development (Senior 4 English) | Ganzaa

Education and Personal Development

Lessons

Senior 4 · English

Education and Personal Development

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

If I Pass, I'll Apply; If I Were the Minister, I'd Build Libraries: the First and Second Conditionals

25 min

Let's begin

Every plan for the future contains the word if, and so does every daydream. English keeps the two apart with grammar. "If I pass, I'll apply" is a plan: it might really happen. "If I were the Minister, I'd build libraries" is a daydream: the speaker does not expect it. Choosing the wrong form changes what you mean, and examiners notice. In this lesson you learn to build both conditionals correctly and to choose between them.

A model dialogue: after careers day

Teta and Ganza, two imagined S4 students, talk on the way home from the talk in Lesson 2. The conditionals are in bold.

Teta: That talk made me think. If I get good marks in S6, I'll apply for a diploma at Rwanda Polytechnic.

Ganza: And if you don't get the marks?

Teta: Then I'll look for an apprenticeship first. I won't give up unless I have no other choice.

Ganza: You sound so sure. I don't even know what I want. If I knew what I loved, I'd plan like you.

Teta: If I were you, I'd do what Ms Mukamana said: ask someone for fifteen minutes. Your aunt is an accountant, isn't she?

Ganza: She is. If I ask her this weekend, she'll probably say yes. She loves talking about her work.

Teta: There you are. And if you write it in your learning log, you'll remember what she says.

Ganza: You know what I'd do if I had a lot of money? I'd build a library in every sector.

Teta: And if you became Minister of Education one day, you could!

Ganza: Let's not get carried away. First, my aunt.

Notice: which of Ganza's if sentences are plans he can carry out this weekend, and which are things he does not expect to happen? Look at the tense after if in each group.

1 The first conditional: real possibilities

Use it for a situation that may really happen, now or in the future, and its likely result.

If-clause (condition)	Main clause (result)	Example
if + present simple	will / won't + base verb	If I ask her this weekend, she'll say yes.
if + present simple	can, may, might, should + base verb	If you finish early, you can help me.
if + present simple	imperative	If you see the teacher, tell her I'm coming.

Other words that introduce a real condition

unless = if … not: I won't give up unless I have no other choice (= if I don't have another choice).
as long as, provided that = only if: You can borrow my notes as long as you return them on Friday.
when is for something you are sure will happen; if is for something that may: When I finish S6, I'll look for work (certain) / If I get the marks, I'll apply (not certain).

2 The second conditional: unreal or unlikely situations

Use it for something imaginary, impossible or unlikely, now or in the future. The past tense here does not mean past time; it shows distance from reality.

If-clause (condition)	Main clause (result)	Example
if + past simple	would / wouldn't + base verb	If I had a lot of money, I'd build a library.
if + past simple	could, might + base verb	If you became Minister, you could build them.
if + were (all persons)	would + base verb	If I were you, I'd ask your aunt.

If I were you, I'd … is the standard way to give advice. In formal and written English use were for every person (if she were, if it were); was is common in casual speech, but keep were in exams and always in If I were you.

3 Same situation, different meaning

Sentence	What the speaker believes
If I get a scholarship, I'll study medicine.	I have applied; it might really happen.
If I got a scholarship, I'd study medicine.	I don't expect it: I haven't applied, or my chances are small.

Punctuation: when the if-clause comes first, put a comma after it (If I pass, I'll apply). When it comes second, no comma is needed (I'll apply if I pass).

Remember WOOP from Lesson 2? Its plan, If [obstacle], then I will [action], is a first conditional, because the obstacle is something that really will happen.

Worked example 1: first or second? Let the context decide

Complete each sentence with the verbs get and study.

Ganza has applied for a scholarship, and the results come out next week. If he ___ it, he ___ medicine. The scholarship is a real possibility, so use the first conditional: If he gets it, he will study medicine. (Third person -s on gets.)
Ganza did not apply, and the deadline was last month. If he ___ a scholarship, he ___ medicine. He cannot get one now, so the situation is imaginary: second conditional. If he got a scholarship, he would study medicine.
Check the clauses. No will or would after if; the if-clause and the main clause belong to the same type (present + will, or past + would).

Worked example 2: rewriting with "unless"

Rewrite: If you don't revise regularly, you won't pass.

Find the negative condition: if you don't revise.
Replace "if … not" with "unless" and make the verb positive: unless you revise. (Never unless you don't revise: that would be a double negative.)
Keep the main clause: you won't pass.

Answer: Unless you revise regularly, you won't pass. Use unless mostly with the first conditional; with real conditions it sounds natural and firm.

Warning

No will after if: If I ~~will pass~~ pass, I'll apply.
No would after if: If I ~~would have~~ had money, I'd build a library.
Don't mix the types: If I get a scholarship, I ~~would~~ will study medicine; If I got a scholarship, I ~~will~~ would study medicine.
Unless already contains "not": Unless you ~~don't~~ hurry, you'll miss the bus.
'd can mean would or had: in a conditional's main clause, I'd study = I would study.

Tip

"Will" and "would" never cross the comma. Picture the comma in If …, … as a river: will and would live only on the result side. The if side has the present (for real chances) or the past (for dreams).

The first conditional, 6 Minute Grammar, BBC Learning English (about 6 minutes). Note the presenters' examples of first conditionals with modal verbs other than will, then write one of your own about your plans after S6.

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Practice

Complete with the first conditional: (a) If it ___ (rain) on Saturday, we ___ (not / go) to the field. (b) You ___ (feel) more confident if you ___ (practise) your speech aloud. (c) If you ___ (see) Ganza, ___ (tell) him the club meets at four.
Complete with the second conditional: (a) If I ___ (be) the head teacher, I ___ (give) every class a library hour. (b) What ___ you ___ (do) if you ___ (win) a scholarship to study abroad? (c) If Rwanda ___ (have) a coastline, it ___ (have) a sea port.
First or second? Explain your choice. (a) Your mother says she might buy you a laptop. If she ___ (buy) one, I ___ (learn) to code. (b) You have no money and no plans to buy a laptop. If I ___ (own) a laptop, I ___ (learn) to code.
Rewrite with unless: (a) If you don't ask, you won't know. (b) She won't apply if her parents don't agree.
Correct the errors: (a) If I will get the marks, I apply to the polytechnic. (b) If I would be you, I would ask for advice. (c) Unless you don't revise, you will fail.
Give advice with If I were you, I'd … to: (a) a friend who wants to be a nurse but has never met one; (b) a friend who gives up when homework is hard.
Write a paragraph of 80–100 words about your plans after S6. Use at least three first conditionals (one with unless) and two second conditionals about things you do not expect to happen.

Show answersHide answers

(a) rains; won't go (b) will feel; practise (c) see; tell (imperative).
(a) were; would give (b) would … do; won (c) had; would have.
(a) First: the laptop is a real possibility. If she buys one, I'll learn to code. (b) Second: the situation is imaginary. If I owned a laptop, I would learn to code.
(a) Unless you ask, you won't know. (b) She won't apply unless her parents agree.
(a) If I get the marks, I will apply to the polytechnic. (b) If I were you, I would ask for advice. (c) Unless you revise, you will fail. (or: If you don't revise, you will fail.)
Models: (a) If I were you, I'd ask a nurse at the health centre for fifteen minutes. (b) If I were you, I'd try one worked example before giving up.
Answers will vary. Check that each first conditional has the present after if and will in the result, that unless is followed by a positive verb, and that each second conditional has the past after if and would in the result.

Quick check

Choose the correct verb: If I ___ my S6 exams, I will apply to the polytechnic.

Key points

First conditional, real possibility: if + present simple, will (or can, may, might, an imperative) + base verb.
Second conditional, unreal or unlikely: if + past simple, would (or could, might) + base verb; If I were you, I'd … for advice.
No will or would in the if-clause; don't mix the two types.
Unless = if … not, followed by a positive verb.

Sources and credits

Dialogue (speakers imagined), grammar explanations and tables, scale diagram, worked examples and practice written by Ganzaa.
Video: The first conditional, 6 Minute Grammar, BBC Learning English, embedded from YouTube.

1A model dialogue: after careers day

21 The first conditional: real possibilities

32 The second conditional: unreal or unlikely situations

43 Same situation, different meaning

A model dialogue: after careers day

1 The first conditional: real possibilities

2 The second conditional: unreal or unlikely situations

3 Same situation, different meaning