Conditionals


Timeframe              Hypothesis                    Result


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


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 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 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 breakfast.

                            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 drunk so much,           (because then I would have had
more energy.)