OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO IF

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

A conditional is a sentence containing a condition and a consequence:

· If I win the lottery I will be rich.

condition consequence

(subordinate clause) (main clause)

The subordinate clause can come before or after the main clause. We use a comma at the end of the subordinate clause when it comes first:

• If you don’t try harder, you will fail.
• You will fail if you don’t try harder.

There are three types of conditionals each containing a fixed combination of tenses and forms.

TYPE 1

Form

If/When Present Simple + Future Simple

Use

Type 1 describes what you think you will do in a specific situation in the future. Although this form is called "real", you are usually imagining or guessing about the future. It is called "real" because it is still possible that the action might occur in the future.

Examples

• If I go to my friend's house for dinner tonight, I will take a bottle of wine or some flowers.
  I am still not sure if I will go to his house or not.
• When I have a day off from work, I am going to go to the beach.
  I have to wait until I have a day off.
• If the weather is nice, she is going to walk to work.
  It depends on the weather.
• Jerry will help me with my homework when he has time.
  I have to wait until he has time.
• I am going to read if there is nothing on TV.
  It depends on the TV schedule.
• A: What are you going to do if it rains?
  B: I am going to stay at home.

NOTE! Both “if” and “when” are used in Type 1 but the use is different. “If” suggests that you don’t know if something will happen or not. “When” suggests that something will definitely happen at some point, we are simply waiting for it to occur.

· When you call me, I will give you the address.
You are going to call me later, and at that time, I will give you the address.

· If you call me, I will give you the address.
If you want the address, you can call me.

TYPE 2

Form

If Past Simple + would + Infinitive

Use

Type 2 is used to talk about what you would generally do in imaginary situations. It is called “unreal” present or future conditional.

Examples

· If I owned a car, I would drive to work. But I don't own a car.

· She would travel around the world if she had more money. But she doesn't have much money.

· I would read more if I didn't watch so much TV.

· Mary would move to Japan if she spoke Japanese.

· If they worked harder, they would earn more money.

· A: What would you do if you won the lottery?
B: I would buy a house.

· A: Where would you live if you moved to the U.S.?
B: I would live in Seattle.

NOTE A In Type 2 the form "was" is not considered grammatically correct. In written English you should always use "were." However, in everyday conversation, "was" is often used.

· If he were French, he would live in Paris.

· If she were rich, she would buy a yacht.

· I would play basketball if I were taller.

· I would buy that computer if it were cheaper.

· I would buy that computer if it was cheaper. Not Correct (But often said in conversation.)

NOTE B Only the word "if" is used with Type 2 because you are discussing imaginary situations. "When" cannot be used.

· I would buy that computer when it were cheaper. Not Correct

· I would buy that computer if it were cheaper. Correct

NOTE C We can use other modal verbs instead of would:

· If I went to Egypt, I would can learn Arabic. Not Correct

· If I went to Egypt, I could learn Arabic. Correct

· If she had time, she would may go to the party. Not Correct

· If she had time, she might go to the party. Correct

TYPE 3

Form

If Past Perfect + would have + Past Participle

Use

Type 3 is used to talk about imaginary situations in the past. You can describe what you would have done differently or how something could have happened differently if circumstances had been different.

Examples

· If I had owned a car, I would have driven to work. But I didn't own one, so I took the bus.

· She would have traveled around the world if she had had more money. But she didn't have much money, so she never traveled.

· I would have read more as a child if I hadn't watched so much TV. Unfortunately, I did watch a lot of TV, so I never read for entertainment.

· Mary would have got the job and moved to Japan if she had studied Japanese in school instead of French.

· If Jack had worked harder, he would have earned more money. Unfortunately, he was lazy and he didn't earn much.

· A: What would you have done if you had won the lottery last week?
B: I would have bought a house.

· A: What city would you have chosen if you had decided to move to the United States?
B: I would have chosen Seattle.

NOTE A Only the word "if" is used with the Past Unreal Conditional because you are discussing imaginary situations. "When" cannot be used.

· I would have bought that computer when it had been cheaper. Not Correct

· I would have bought that computer if it had been cheaper. Correct

NOTE B We can use other modal verbs instead of would:

· If I had gone to Egypt, I could have learned Arabic.

· If she had had time, she might have gone to the party.

ZERO CONDITIONAL

Form

If/When Present Simple/Present Continuous + Present Simple

If/When Past Simple/Past Continuous + Past Simple

Use

Zero Conditional is used to talk about what you normally do in real-life situations. (Present Simple) It may describe what you used to do in particular real-life situations. It suggests that your habits have changed and you don’t usually do these things today. (Past Simple). Zero Conditional is also used to show that one action or result always follows another.

Examples

· If I go to a friend's house for dinner, I usually take a bottle of wine or some flowers.

· If the water is boiling, it means the food is nearly ready.

· When I have a day off from work, I often go to the beach.

· If the weather is nice, she walks to work.

· Jerry helps me with my homework when he has time.

· I read if there is nothing on TV.

· A: What do you do when it rains?
B: I stay at home.

· A: Where do you stay if you go to Sydney?
B: I stay with my friends near the harbor.

• If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I usually took a bottle of wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore.
• If it was snowing, we stayed at home.
• When I had a day off from work, I often went to the beach. Now, I never get time off.
• If the weather was nice, she often walked to work. Now, she usually drives.
• Jerry always helped me with my homework when he had time. But he doesn't do that anymore.
• A: What did you usually do when it rained?
  B: I usually stayed at home.
• If/When water freezes, it turns to ice.

NOTE! Both “If” and “when” are used in Zero Conditional. Using “if” suggests that something happens/happened less frequently. Using “when” suggests that something happens/happened regularly:

· When I have a day off from work, I usually go to the beach.
I regularly have days off from work.

· If I have a day off from work, I usually go to the beach.
I rarely have days off from work.

• When I had a day off from work, I usually went to the beach.
  I regularly had days off from work.
• If I had a day off from work, I usually went to the beach.
  I rarely had days off from work.

MIXED CONDITIONALS

Type 3 + Type 2

The condition refers to the past and the consequence refers to the present:

· If I had won the lottery, I would be rich.
But I didn't win the lottery in the past and I am not rich now.

· If I had taken French in high school, I would have more job opportunities.
But I didn't take French in high school and I don't have many job opportunities.

· If she had been born in the United States, she wouldn't need a visa to work here.
But she wasn't born in the United States and she does need a visa now to work here

Type 2 + Type 3

The condition refers to no particular time and the consequence refers to the past:

· If I were rich, I would have bought that Ferrari we saw yesterday.
But I am not currently rich and that is why I didn't buy the Ferrari yesterday.

· If Sam spoke Russian, he would have translated the letter for you.
But Sam doesn't speak Russian and that is why he didn't translate the letter.

· If I didn't have to work so much, I would have gone to the party last night.
But I have to work a lot and that is why I didn't go to the party last night.

N O T E S

1. in the subordinate clause the auxiliary “should” can be used. After if, this makes the possibility of an event seem unlikely:
• If he should come, ask him to wait.
2. “happen to” emphasizes chance possibilities. It is often used with should:
• If you happen to see Helen, could you ask her to call me?
• If you should happen to be passing, drop in for a cup of tea.
3. “were to” is used to emphasize that the condition is extremely unlikely or unthinkably horrible:
• If Nathan were to be my boss, this job would be intolerable.
• If I were to have no friends, who would I spend my time with?
• If he were to fail his driving test tomorrow, he would have to take it again.
• If the fire were to have destroyed the building, it would have been a tragic cultural loss.
4. “will” and “would” can be used as polite forms or in the meaning “insist on doing”:
• If you will/would wait here, I’ll see if Mr. Green is free.
• If you will stay out late, no wonder you are tired. (insist on staying)
5. adverbial clauses of condition containing the verbs “had”, “were”, “could”, “should” are often introduced without any conjunction. In there cases we find inversion:
• Had I time, I would come to your place. = If I had time……
• Were she in New York, she would call you. = If she were……
6. unreal conditions may also be expressed in the following ways:

a) But for + noun/pronoun:

· But for your help, I would have been in trouble.

· But for the rain, we would go to the country.

b) If it were not for/If it hadn’t been for + noun/pronoun:

· If it were not for your help, I wouldn’t be able to finish my work in time.

· If it hadn’t been for me, they would have never found that place.

OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO IF

I WISH & IF ONLY

We can express wishes about present, past and future. We use wish to say that we regret something, that something is not as we would like it to be:

1. we use Past Simple for present or future situations after wish:

· I wish you didn’t work so much.

· I wish they could come to see us tomorrow.

· I wish my room were larger. (“were” instead of “was” is more correct)

2. we use Past Perfect after wish when we say that we regret something that happened or didn’t happen in the past:

· I wish I had known Helen was ill. I would have visited her.

· I feel sick. I wish I hadn’t eaten so much.

3. we often use would/wouldn’t to complain about something, to talk about things that we would like people or things to do or not to do:

· I wish it would stop raining.

· I wish you wouldn’t drive so fast. It makes me nervous.

IF ONLY can be more emphatic than wish. The verb forms after if only are the same as the patterns with wish:

· If only I had more money! (= but I haven’t)

· If only I was going on holiday with you! (= but I am not)

· If only the sun would come out!

· If only I had listened to you! (= but I didn’t)

· If only he could have explained! (= but he wasn’t able to)

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