This conditional deals with “unreal, but likely” situations in the present or future. When the situation is completely likely, use present tense in both clauses. If you stick your fingers in the fire, they get burned. We use this to describe a condition with an absolutely predictable result-in other words, to state a fact. We don’t call it “real” because it has already happened: we call it real because it *always* happens this way. This conditional deals with “real” conditions. Pay attention to the situation described before each example and notice how the verb changes as the situation becomes more and more likely. The critical factor is the *likelihood* of the situation being real. This handout uses the same basic activity in each example (sticking your fingers into the fire) to show how the situation influences the choice of verb tense.

Most explanations of the conditional don’t use one consistent example, so it’s difficult to see how different verb tenses convey different meanings. If it doesn’t rain, we won’t.” This handout explains how different verb tenses indicate different meanings when you are speaking hypothetically and should help you choose the right verb tense for the meaning you want to convey. For example, “If it rains, we’ll cancel the picnic. One of them is to use the word “if” in the clause that expresses the condition. There are many different ways to express “conditional” or “hypothetical” meaning in English. Conditionals: Verb Tense in “If” Clauses What this handout is about

Present tense past tense