lunes, 13 de febrero de 2017

FIRST AND ZERO CONDITIONAL





First Conditional: real possibility

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
IFconditionresult

present simpleWILL + base verb
Ifit rainsI will stay at home.

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen. Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [IF condition result] and [result IF condition]?):

IFconditionresult

present simpleWILL + base verb
IfI see MaryI will tell her.
IfTara is free tomorrowhe will invite her.
Ifthey do not pass their examtheir teacher will be sad.
Ifit rains tomorrowwill you stay at home?
Ifit rains tomorrowwhat will you do?
 
resultIFcondition
WILL + base verb
present simple
I will tell MaryifI see her.
He will invite Taraifshe is free tomorrow.
Their teacher will be sadifthey do not pass their exam.
Will you stay at homeifit rains tomorrow?
What will you doifit rains tomorrow?




The Zero Conditional

We can make a zero conditional sentence with two present simple verbs (one in the 'if clause' and one in the 'main clause'):
  • If + present simple, .... present simple.
This conditional is used when the result will always happen. So, if water reaches 100 degrees, it always boils. It's a fact. I'm talking in general, not about one particular situation. The result of the 'if clause' is always the main cluase. The 'if' in this conditional can usually be replaced by 'when' without changing the meaning.
For example: If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils. (It is always true, there can't be a different result sometimes). If I eat peanuts, I am sick. (This is true only for me, maybe, not for everyone, but it's still true that I'm sick every time I eat peanuts)
Here are some more examples:
  • If people eat too much, they get fat.
  • If you touch a fire, you get burned.
  • People die if they don't eat.
  • You get water if you mix hydrogen and oxygen.
  • Snakes bite if they are scared
  • If babies are hungry, they cry





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