IF WHAT?

One of my favorite aspects of the English language is the conditionals, and I'm happy to share my view on them with you today!

First, there is something people call Zero Conditional.

If you pull the doorknob, the door opens.

                                                 present                                    present

It refers to an automatic reaction. You do one and the other happens for sure.
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Then, there is something we call First Conditional.

If you study, you will pass your tests.

                                                    present           future

Here we have an action in the present with a future consequence. It is, let's say, 50% certain to happen. Maybe a little more... Here you are dreaming of a different future.
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After that, we have something called Second Conditional.

If I won the lottery, I would buy a car.

                                                  past                  imaginary present

I don’t have a car now, because I didn’t win it, but I wish I had one now. Something did not happen in my past so my present is not that good!
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Finally, there is something which we call Third Conditional.

If I had learned Chinese, I would have moved to China.

                                 past of the past                 imaginary past

We have already learned that the Past Perfect is the past of the past HERE.

And that the Present Perfect is the same as the past HERE.

So, we have the following situation: I didn't go to China (past) because I hadn't learned Chinese (past of the past). One action in a distant past led to a consequence in a nearer past.
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So, we can observe that the consequence always happens after the condition:

If you study, you will pass your test. [present with a future consequence]

If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. [past with a present consequence]

If I had learned Chinese, I would have moved to China [long past with a near past consequence]

Think you're ready to try it? Take a look at THIS.


Let me know if this works for you!

Cheers,
J.