Conditionals

Here are some fundamental points you need to know to understand conditionals:

• A conditional sentence is a complex sentence that consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.
• The main clause is also called the result clause.
• The subordinate clause typically begins with the adverbial subordinator if. This clause is usually called the if clause and presents a condition.
• You can order the two clauses in two ways:

                  If I go, George will go.

                  George will go if I go.

                    (Notice the change in punctuation.)

There are basically three kinds of conditionals:

1. True in the present/future:

If I win the lottery, I buy a car.

If I win the lottery, I will buy a car.

2. Untrue in the present/future:

 If I had enough money, I would buy a car.

3. Untrue in the past:

 If I had had enough money, I would have bought a car.

Keep in mind that you will find different names and labels to describe these structures, e.g.: factual, contrary to fact, real, unreal, predictive, etc.; but they all refer to the same three situations.

Once you understand these three, you can move onto other sub-categories using modal verbs, going to, and to be.