First Conditional vs. Second Conditional

First Conditional vs. Second Conditional

1. First Conditional

   • Structure
     • if + present simple, ... will + infinitive
   • It's used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can't know what will happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily come true.
   • Examples
     • If it rains, I won't go to the park.
     • If I study today, I'll go to the party tonight.
     • If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes.
     • She'll be late if the train is delayed.

2. Second Conditional

   • It has two uses.
     • We can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true. Maybe I'm imagining some dream for example.
       • If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.
       • If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello
         • She would travel all over the world if she were rich
       • Examples
     • We can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true.
       • Examples
         • If I had his number, I would call him. (I don't have his number now, so it's impossible for me to call him).
           • If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man
   • Structure
     • if + past simple, ...would + infinitive
     • We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. This is mostly done in formal writing.
   • Structure

3. Difference

   • The first conditional describes things that I think are likely to happen in the future, whereas the second conditional talks about things that I don't think will really happen. It's subjective; it depends on my point of view.

4. Bibliography

   • Anonymous. (2019). The First Conditional. Perfect English Grammar. https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/first-conditional.html
   • Anonymous. (2019). The Second Conditional. Perfects Englisg Grammar. https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/second-conditional.html