Mr. Hundhausen’s Magic Conditional Chart


Timeframe      Hypothesis                       Result


[0) always               When it rains,                                        I take an umbrella.
J]


*1) future      If it rains tomorrow,            I will take an umbrella.

                        When I am a big boy,                               I will have a big fast
car.

                                      As soon as you arrive,                              you will
be shown where to park.

                        If I learn something bad about him,         I will not go on a 2-week
holiday to India with him.

                                      If he behaves well,                                    I will
not do it.

                                      If it is the weekend,                                  I will
sleep.

                                      If she comes tomorrow,                                     I
will be there.

                                      Should any problem arise,                       please feel
free to contact me.


2) present       If it rained,                      I would take an umbrella.

                        If I was a big boy,                                     I would have a big
fast car.

                        If I knew that,                                           I would not go
there.

                                      If he behaved well,                                   I would
not do it.

                                      If it was the weekend,                              I would
still be asleep.

                        If she came,                                              I would be there.

                                               Supposing she
came,                                                what would you do?

      REGRETS about the present:

                        I wish I had more time.                                      (because then
I could watch hockey.)

                                      I wish I knew what makes him tick.                 (because
then it would be easier to man. him)

                                      I wish I were/was in Hawaii right now.


BUT!!!!!      For other verbs you must use COULD (for impossibility) or WOULD (for irritation)

                                      I wish I could speak Japanese.

                                      I wish I could spend my holiday on the moon.

                                      I wish I could spend today at home.


                                      I wish Adrian would learn a new joke.

                                      I wish my mother-in-law would move to Turkey.

                                      I wish the restaurant in my street would close.


*3) past          If it had rained,              I would have taken an umbrella.

                           If I had ever been a big boy,                    I would have had a big
fast car.

                            If I had known that,                                 I would not have
gone there.

                            If he had behaved well,                                      I would
not have done it.

                            If it had been the weekend,                      I would have slept / I
would have stayed in bed.

                            If she had come to Brno,                          I would have been
there to greet her.

                            Had she come to Brno,                             I would have been
there to greet her.


I wish it had rained.                                           (because then I would have got
clean.)

                            I wish it hadn’t rained.


                            I wish I had bought something for b.

                            I wish I had studied.                                 (because then I
wouldn’t have failed my test.)

                            I wish I had slept more.

                            I wish I hadn’t sang S so much.

                            I wish I hadn’t drunk so much,                because then I would have
had more energy.