Lesson 43: Unit 100 - Second Conditional.
Learn how to express imaginary and hypothetical situations in English with the Second Conditional — the structure "If + Past Simple, would + infinitive".
About this lesson
In this lesson you will learn the Second Conditional — conditional sentences of the second type, used to describe present or future events that are imaginary, hypothetical or impossible to fulfil. You will master the structure "If + Past Simple, would + base form of the verb" and see why we use "were" instead of "was" in conditional sentences. Through a variety of interactive exercises and realistic everyday scenarios you will learn to form these sentences correctly and to talk about hypothetical situations with confidence.
40 minutes
What you'll learn
- Understand what the Second Conditional expresses and when it is used
- Form sentences correctly following the pattern 'If + Past Simple, would + infinitive'
- Use 'were' instead of 'was' in conditional sentences for all persons
- Respond to hypothetical everyday situations in English
- Recognise the difference between First and Second Conditional
- Use useful phrases such as 'go on a diet', 'lose weight', 'spitting image'
Lesson vocabulary
- imaginary This type of sentence describes present or future events that are imaginary or impossible.
- unlikely Second Conditional describes events that are unlikely or impossible.
- refuse If my best friend's boyfriend invited me out, I would refuse the invitation.
- invitation Would you refuse the invitation and tell your friend?
- inform If I saw a stranger stealing, I would inform the manager at once.
- scratch If I accidentally scratched the paintwork of a new car next to mine, I would leave a note.
- paintwork Imagine you accidentally scratch the paintwork of a new car next to yours.
- aggressive You know they are quite emotional and can be aggressive sometimes.
- burglar If I found a handsome burglar in my house, I would call the police immediately.
- invigilator If I noticed someone cheating, I would inform the invigilator.
- spitting image Imagine you meet a stranger who is your spitting image.
- go on a diet If he went on a diet, he would lose weight.
- lose weight If he went on a diet, he would lose weight.
- get rid of If Will didn't smoke so much, he would get rid of his cough.
- pollution If there were less cars on the road, there would be less pollution.
In other languages: Български