Leadership and Famous People
Senior 4 · English
Leadership and Famous People
Lesson 4 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
Every election, from a national vote to a school council, is built on one sentence pattern: If you vote for me, I will …. That is the first conditional, which you met in Unit 2, used for its most public job: making promises. A week later, someone always reports what the candidates said, and asks whether they meant it. Reporting a promise means changing pronouns and tenses at the same time, and choosing a verb that shows exactly what kind of statement it was. This lesson does both.
Written by Ganzaa. The school, the candidates and the newsletter are imagined.
Mutoni (S5): "If you elect me, I will start a homework club for S1 and S2. If the taps in the girls' dormitory are still broken next month, I'll take the problem to the head teacher myself. As long as you keep telling me what you need, I won't stop working. And if I break a promise, vote me out!"
Habimana (S6): "If I become president, every class will have a voice at council meetings. If we plant trees along the football pitch this term, we'll have shade by next year. Vote for me, and you won't regret it."
The Hilltop Times, one week later
Mutoni promised that if we elected her, she would start a homework club for S1 and S2. She added that if the taps in the girls' dormitory were still broken the following month, she would take the problem to the head teacher herself. She assured us that as long as we kept telling her what we needed, she would not stop working, and she even invited us to vote her out if she broke a promise.
Habimana claimed that if he became president, every class would have a voice at council meetings. He argued that if we planted trees along the football pitch that term, we would have shade by the next year, and he assured us that we would not regret voting for him.
Form: if + present simple, + will / won't + base verb. It talks about a real possibility in the future and what will follow from it. The if-clause can come first (with a comma) or second (no comma): If you elect me, I'll start a club. / I'll start a club if you elect me.
| Variation | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| will / won't | If I become president, every class will have a voice. | a promise or prediction |
| can / may / might | If we plant trees, we might have shade by next year. | possibility, less certain |
| should / must | If the taps are still broken, you should report it. | advice or obligation |
| imperative | If I break a promise, vote me out! | an instruction |
| present continuous or present perfect in the if-clause | If you're looking for a leader who listens, choose me. If you've finished, hand it in. | an action in progress, or completed, at the moment |
| as long as / provided (that) | As long as you keep telling me, I won't stop. | a condition that must be met |
| when instead of if | When the results come out, we'll celebrate. | certain to happen; if = it may happen |
The golden rule: no will in the if-clause. If you will elect me → If you elect me.
When the reporting verb is in the past, both clauses usually move one step back: present → past, will → would, can → could, may → might. Time and place words change too: next month → the following month, this term → that term, next year → the next year.
When you may keep the original tenses: if the reporting verb is in the present (She promises that if we elect her, she will …), or if the promise is still in the future when you report it (She said that if we elect her, she will start a club, said before the election).
| Reporting verb | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| promise | + to + verb · + that | She promised to start a club. She promised that she would start a club. |
| assure | + person + that | He assured us that we would not regret it. |
| claim, argue, add | + that | He claimed that every class would have a voice. |
| warn | + person + that · + person + (not) to | She warned us that the taps would get worse. She warned us not to waste water. |
| pledge, vow | + to + verb | He pledged to plant trees along the pitch. |
| invite, urge | + person + to + verb | She urged us to vote. |
Worked example 1: choosing the right conditional form
Write a campaign promise for each situation.
Worked example 2: reporting a promise in four steps
Direct, said on Monday: Habimana: "If you give me your ideas this week, I'll present them at the next council meeting." Report it on Friday of the following week.
Result: Habimana promised that if we gave him our ideas that week, he would present them at the following council meeting.
Warning
Tip
Ask: what did the speaker DO with the words? Promise, claim, warn, argue, assure, urge? A reporting verb is a judgement: claimed sounds doubtful, assured sounds confident, warned sounds serious. Choose it as carefully as a journalist would.
The first conditional, Grammar: Conditionals with Georgie, BBC Learning English (under 3 minutes, 2025). Write down her examples, then turn two of them into campaign promises.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
Choose the correct sentence.
