When do we use the 2nd conditional (present unreal conditional)?

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Asked by @ Kapil Ji (Community Student)

When do we use the 2nd conditional (present unreal conditional)

When do we use the 2nd conditional (present unreal conditional)

English Time Ask Elo

Answered by @ Elo Kasia

Elo Kasia is the English Mentor for  ” English Grammar and Speaking Academy” ,  Join now.

When do we use the second conditional (present unreal conditional)? | English Time Ask Elo

Question Time: When do we use the 2nd conditional (present unreal conditional)?

  @ Kapil Ji, Thank you for your question

  As usual, I will try to explain the difference using simple language and plenty of examples.

Second Conditional -Rules and Examples- (English Grammar)

Thank you, youtube – SandJ English.

When do we use the 2nd conditional (present unreal conditional)

Conditional sentences are used to talk about events and their results and are made of a condition and result.

The four main types of conditional sentences are factual conditional, possible conditional (1st conditional), present unreal conditional (2nd conditional) and past unreal conditional (3rd conditional).

The second conditional (also known as “present unreal conditional”) is used to imagine a different reality to what it is now. It refers to the present or future, but we talk about situations which are impossible, improbable, imaginary, or unlikely to happen.

It is made of two clauses, the “if (condition) clause” and the “main clause”

CONDITION: if + past simple

• even though we talk about the present or future, we use the past tense, this is often difficult for many students
• for past simple use +ed for regular verbs and memorise irregular ones

RESULT: would (might/could) + verb

• As with other conditionals, we can change the order of clauses.
• We can use ‘were’ instead of ‘was’ with ‘I’ and ‘he/she/it’. This is mostly done in formal writing

Examples:

Improbable / highly unlikely

• If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.
• If were rich, I would travel the world.
• If I were a chef, I would shout at everybody in the kitchen.
• If I lived in Italy, I would eat pizza every day.
• She would pass the exam if she studied hard.
• Where would you go if you won a free plane ticket?
• To answer a question like that, just use “I would go to Iceland.”
• What would you say if he asked you? “I would say “yes!”

Imaginary / impossible

• If I had a superpower, I would like to be able to fly.
• If I knew where they lived, I would go and see them.
• They would visit their uncle more often if he didn’t live so far away.
• I wouldn’t tell my friend the truth if I knew it would hurt them.
• If you were an animal, which animal would you be? “I would be a lion.”

It is also used to give or ask for advice, when we imagine being somebody else.

• I wouldn’t buy this car if I were you.
• If I were you, I wouldn’t go to the party.
• I wouldn’t make a fuss about the money if I were him.
• What would you do if you were me?
• How would you behave if you were in his shoes?

The second conditional is different from the first one because it is much more unlikely to happen.

• If I had a lot of money, I would move to another city. (very unlikely)
• If/When/As soon as I have enough money, I will buy a new pair of shoes. (likely)

Make sure you follow our *TT exercises to practise different types of conditional sentences. With the second conditional the easiest and fun way to practise is to imagine a different reality, different present from what we live, i.e. “If I had a lot of money, I would…”, “If I lived in a big house, I would …”, “If I was/were young again, I would …” and so on and so forth. Let your imagination run wild.

Elo Kasia is the Community Mentor for ” English Grammar and Speaking Academy“. Director at Eloquent Learning Online, educational institution based in the UK. www.eloquentlearning.com.

When do we use the 2nd conditional (present unreal conditional)