Get Conditionals: Verb Tense In "if" Clauses - The Writing Center

5 Types of Conditional Sentences Conditional sentence typeWhen to useIf-clause Type Zero Describing known facts Simple present Type 1 A possible situation and the result Simple present Type 2 A hypothetical condition and its possible result Simple past Type 3 An impossible past situation and its result in the past Past perfect1 more row

There are four main types of conditional sentences, unimaginatively named the Zero Conditional, First Conditional, Second Conditional, and Third Conditional. Now, let's elaborate a bit further.

English Conditionals: Quick Summary Zero conditional: If you jump in a pool, you get wet. First conditional: If you run a mile in the scorching heat, you will sweat. Second conditional: If I were you, I would apply for that job. Third conditional: If I had known you were coming, I would have made more food.

There are four different types of conditional sentences: Zero conditional sentences express general truths or known facts. First conditional sentences express possible future events or actions that are likely to happen. Second conditional sentences express unlikely or unrealistic future events.

Conditional Conditional sentence typeUsageIf clause verb tense Zero General truths Simple present Type 1 A possible condition and its probable result Simple present Type 2 A hypothetical condition and its probable result Simple past Type 3 An unreal past condition and its probable result in the past Past perfect1 more row

Conditional verbs are used to create conditional sentences, which express hypothetical or unlikely situations. Conditional verbs can be used in the past, present, or future tense, and auxiliary verbs like can/could, will/would, and may/might are important in forming conditionals.

Note that we use the simple present tense in the if-clause and the simple future tense in the main clause—the clause that expresses the likely outcome. This is how we indicate that under a certain condition (as expressed in the if-clause), a specific result will likely happen in the future.