BROADCASTS.com

THE FIRST CONDITIONAL

Would you like to make longer sentences? Using the conditional tenses can help you to express logical ideas and sound more fluent in your speaking.

So, how do you form the first conditional grammar tense in English?

This tense requires us to construct a sentence in\xa0two parts.

It is created with \u201cif\u201d then the present simple tense, after which comes the future simple plus the infinitive:

• if + present simple, \u2026 will + infinitive

So, this tense is used to talk about things which\xa0might possibly\xa0happen in the future. Of course, we can\u2019t always know what will happen in the future. However, this describes possible things, which could easily come true.

• If it\xa0rains, I\xa0won\u2019t go\xa0to the beach.
• I\u2018ll go\xa0to the party tomorrow if I\xa0study\xa0today,
• If I\xa0have\xa0enough money, I\u2018ll buy\xa0the concert tickets.
• He\xa0will\xa0be late if traffic\xa0is\xa0bad.
• She\xa0will\xa0fail the test if she\xa0does\xa0not\xa0study.
• If I\xa0see\xa0her, I\u2018ll tell\xa0her.

The 1st conditional describes a\xa0specific\xa0situation, whereas the\xa0zero conditional\xa0describes what happens\xa0in general.

The zero conditional is for general facts and the first conditional is for your personal life or specific cases.

For example (zero conditional): if you eat too much, you gain weight (in general, people who overeat will become fat).

But (1st conditional): if you eat too much, you will gain weight (specifically I\u2019m talking about today and your situation).

First\xa0vs.\xa0Second\xa0Conditional

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\u2019t think will really happen. It\u2019s subjective; it depends on my point of view.

For example (1st conditional): If she studies harder, she\u2019ll pass the exam (I think it\u2019s possible she will study harder and so she\u2019ll pass)

But (second conditional): If she studied harder, she would pass the exam (I think that she won\u2019t study harder, or it\u2019s very unlikely, and so she won\u2019t pass)