Second conditional

Second conditional

1. Usage

   • The Second Conditional is used to express hypothetical conditions referring to the present, something that is unlikely to occur.
   • We use the second conditional to talk about situations that are unreal in the present; therefore, we can describe them as imaginary and are unlikely to occur.

2. Usage

   • The Second Conditional is used to express hypothetical conditions referring to the present, something that is unlikely to occur
   • We use the second conditional to talk about situations that are unreal in the present; therefore, we can describe them as imaginary and are unlikely to occur.

3. Examples

   • If I were taller, she would like me. (Si fuera más alto, le gustaría.)
   • If I won the lottery, I would buy my dream house. (Si ganara la lotería, compraría la casa de mis sueños.)
   • If she lost weight, the dress would fit. (Si perdiera peso, el vestido le quedaría bien.)
   • If we lived in France we learned French very fast. (Si viviéramos en Francia aprenderíamos francés muy rápido.)
   • If they were in our place, they would do the same thing. (Si estuvieran en nuestro lugar, harían lo mismo.)
   • If I had children, I would teach them to dance. (Si tuviera hijos, les enseñaría a bailar.)

4. Structure

   • The structure of the second conditional: If + verbo en pasado simple + would/could/might + verbo
     • Structure affirmative: In the result sentence we use the auxiliary verb WOULD + the base form of the verb.
     • Structure Negative: In the result sentence we use the auxiliary verb WOULDN'T + the base form of the verb.

5. Concept

   • As you can see, if we want to replace the conditional with a modal verb (in this case could or might) we would not have any problem, it would only change in the fact that the probability would be even lower.

6. difference between first conditional and second conditional

   • As we already explained, the first conditional describes things that could happen in the future. The second conditional in English describes things that we doubt will happen. It is actually quite subjective, as it depends on how we see things.