Bahasa Inggris Bisnis 2: "Conditional Sentences"

Conditional Sentences

What Are Conditional Sentences?

Conditional sentences (also known as conditional clauses or if clauses) are made up of two halves. One half (the half with the word if in) is a condition, and the other half (the main clause) states the action to occur if the condition is fulfilled.

The most common kind of conditional sentence that you are likely to meet will contain two clauses, one of which will start with the word if, as in If it rains, we'll have to stay at home. The clause without the if is the main clause of the sentence, while the if clause is subordinate. The order of the two clauses is generally not that important to the meaning of the sentence; so we can switch the if clause to the end of the sentence if we want to.

Most grammar books tend to recognise four basic configurations of tenses in conditional sentences which vary in structure according to the time that we are talking about (past, present or future) and the meaning. These four types are normally referred to as the zero, first, second and third conditionals; we will look at the forms and meanings of each of these in turn and also examine some of the alternatives to these four basic types.

 

The Types of Conditional Sentence

1.     First-type conditionals

The basic form for this type of conditional sentence can be seen in the chart below. As before, the order of the clauses can be changed with no change in meaning. This type refers to future possibilities that are certain or probable.

First-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Present tense	Future tense
If they don't arrive soon If they are late	we'll leave without them. I'm going to be angry.

Examples:

1)     If Randy has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.

2)     If I study, I'll pass the exam.

3)     If I don't study, I'll fail the exam.

4)     If the bell rings, I’ll go home.

5)     If they invite you, will you come?

2.     Second-type conditionals

This type is often called the hypothetical or 'unreal' future conditional since it is usually used to speculate about either very unlikely future situations or present and future impossibilities.

Second-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Past tense	would + verb
If I had time If I had wings	I would drop you off at school. I would fly.

Examples:

1)     If you swallowed some of the cleaning fluid, it would kill you.

2)     If I didn't study, I'd fail the exam.

3)     If I didn’t have home work to do, I would call him.

4)     He would help the poor if he were a millionare.

5)     If I had a lot of money, I wouldn’t stay here.

 

3.     Third-type conditionals

This type refers to hypothetical situations in the past. In this case we use the Past Perfect tenses in the if clause and would + have in the main clause.

Third-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Past Perfect tense	would have + past participle
If I had known about his condition If we had known about the storm	I would have phoned for you earlier. we wouldn't have started our journey.

The main uses of the third conditional are for speculating about the past, expressing regrets, excusing our own actions and criticising others. Some of the uses tend to overlap in practice as the examples below demonstrate:

1)     If I hadn't studied, I'd have failed the exam.

2)     If you had remembered to invite me, I would have attended your party.

3)     If he had asked you for forgiveness, would you have forgiven him?

4)     Had I gone to the party, I would have met him.

5)     If he had been careful, he wouldn't have had that terrible accident.

Remember!

(1)   The conditional construction does not normally use will or would in if-clauses.

(2)   For the second conditional, were replaces was:

(3)   After if, we can either use "some(-one, -where...)" or "any(-one, -where...).

(4)   Instead of if not, we can use unless.

(5)   There is a "mixed type" as well, for the present results of an unreal condition in the past: If + Past Perfect - would + inf.

Source:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/conditional2.htm

https://www.tesol-direct.com/guide-to-english-grammar/conditional-sentences

http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/conditional_sentences.htm