Second Conditional Sentences Examples English Grammar Lesson
Hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish!
Today we’re going to roll up our sleeves and practise
with the second conditional.
Now this is one of my favourite grammar structures
in English because we use it in different ways
and we can have lots of fun with it as well.
So that you know exactly what will happen in this lesson
let me give you a bit of an overview.
Firstly we’re going to talk about the meaning,
when and why you should use the second conditional.
Then we’re going to look at what it looks like,
what words, what tenses, what punctuation
are important to help you use the second conditional
accurately.
Then I’ve got a few important extra tips
to help you use the second conditional correctly.
So make sure you stick around for that part
and of course, there’ll be some practice at the end.
I’ll be making a series of videos about conditionals
so make sure you subscribe to the channel and turn on
notifications so that you know when each
new lesson is ready for you.
Now this lesson is a little longer than usual because I
really want to give you a clear and complete
understanding of the second conditional.
So go grab a coffee or a cup of tea, settle in.
You won’t regret it.
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Alright let’s get started with this lesson.
When can you use the second conditional?
We use it in a few ways:
to imagine that our lives
or someone else’s life is different;
we use it to ask hypothetical questions;
to give advice;
and to give reasons why you can’t do something.
So you might have practised a little with the first two
but the third and the fourth are both interesting
and different ways to use the second conditional.
So I’m really excited to get into those.
But let’s start with number one.
We use the second conditional to talk about things
in the future that are unlikely
or things that are impossible in the present.
So we use it to imagine and to dream
that the present situation is different than it really is.
Now this could be because it’s impossible now
or because it’s really unlikely to become real
in the future, not completely impossible but unlikely.
So with the second conditional, we say
if this happened then that would happen.
So for example,
if I had enough money,
I would buy a house.
If the present situation was different
then I would do that.
If I won the lottery,
I’d buy a house.
Now this is an unlikely event in the future right
because it’s unlikely I’m gonna win the lottery.
Possible but unlikely.
Before we keep going with the other ways
to use the second conditional,
let’s spend a little bit of time focusing on
what it looks like.
Conditional sentences all have an if clause
and a main clause
which is sometimes also called the result clause
because it can only happen
if the if clause occurs. It’s a condition, right?
If this happens, then that happens.
Now what exactly makes a conditional sentence
the second conditional?
So the second conditional uses a past simple verb
in the if clause then ‘would’
followed by the infinitive verb in the main clause.
If she lived in London, she would have English friends.
The if clause is the condition.
Does she live in London?
No,
we’re talking about a hypothetical situation here right
so the result clause suggests
what would be different and would tells us
that we’re imagining
the result or you know
she would have English friends. It’s not real.
She doesn’t have English friends now but
it could happen if she lived in London.
If she lived in London, she would have English friends.
Now you can definitely make one or both clauses
negative in a second conditional sentence.
If I didn’t want to go, I would tell you.
If I didn’t finish my homework,
I wouldn’t tell my teacher.
And of course,
we can ask second conditional questions too.
Hypothetical questions to ask someone to imagine
what they would do in a different situation.
So these situations are not real
but it’s kind of fun to ask these types of questions right?
It really helps to keep conversations going sometimes.
What would you do if you quit your job?
If you won a million dollars, would you travel the world?
If you only had one day in Singapore,
what would you do?
See how fun these types of questions can be?
Choose one of them to answer in the comments below
but make sure you write your answer
as a full second conditional sentence
to practise the structure okay?
If I only had one day in Singapore, I would…
Now you can actually use ‘could’ in the if clause
to ask a similar question so you would be saying
if you were able to or if it were possible to.
If you could travel to any country, where would you go?
Now notice that when you use ‘could’ in the if clause,
the verb that follows ‘could’ is in the infinitive form
not in the past simple and that’s because it’s a modal
verb right? Standard English grammar rule.
After modal verbs, we always have the infinitive.
Now we’ve been talking about
hypothetical situations so far
but what are these other uses because we can use
the second conditional to give advice
and if you think about it,
when someone asks you for advice,
you usually try to imagine what you would do
in their situation and share that with them.
So for example.
If I were you, I’d talk to my boss before I quit my job.
Or: If I were her, I’d break up with him.
Now if you’re wondering why in both of those examples
I was using ‘were’ with the subject I,
I’m going to talk about that in a few minutes.
But lastly, you can use the second conditional
to give reasons why you can’t do something.
You’ve probably already noticed that English speakers
are usually quite polite to each other.
Instead of just saying ‘no’ we often try and soften
our responses by explaining why we can’t do something
and sometimes you might just want to explain
a situation a little more so the second conditional
can really help you to do this.
So for example. If I had the money, I’d lend it to you.
I don’t have to explain myself any further here.
This sentence already explains that I don’t have
the money so I can’t help.
But it suggests that maybe you want to, that maybe
you would if you could.
If I wasn’t so busy, I’d invite you over for dinner.
But I am really busy so I can’t invite you over.
So we’ve covered what the second conditional looks like
and when you can use it
but now I want to share some extra tips to help you
understand it better and to help you use it accurately.
So the first one I want to mention is that ‘if’ is a
conjunction, right? The purpose of conjunctions is to
join two sentences or two different clauses together.
There’s a really strong relationship between the two
clauses in a conditional sentence,
right? They’re really connected.
The if clause contains a condition and the main clause
contains the result, right? They rely on each other.
Now you may know that with all conditional sentences,
you can change the order of your clauses.
When this happens, it doesn’t change the meaning
but there is an important punctuation change
that you need to make.
If it stopped raining, I would go for a walk.
I would go for a walk if it stopped raining.
Now the meaning in these two sentences
is exactly the same
but notice that when the main clause comes first,
we don’t include that comma before the if clause.
Now to be honest
this is really only significant if you’re sitting an
English exam or you’re doing academic writing.
You’re going to get marked down for that type of
punctuation error.
But generally, that’s not really something
you need to lose sleep over.
Now in spoken English, the subject and ‘would’,
they’re usually contracted.
I’d, you’d, she’d, he’d,
they’d, we’d.
Now it’s much easier to say this
type of sentence quickly
and it helps you to sound a little more relaxed as well.
But these contractions, very common in spoken English,
common in informal written English
but you shouldn’t be using contractions in formal
written English, right? Just steer clear completely.
Now one of the most interesting parts about the second
conditional is that it breaks some standard
be verb grammar rules, right?
We can actually use ‘were’ instead of ‘was’ with I,
he, she and it, right?
Both of them are grammatically correct but I guess
‘were’ is a little more formal
alright so we would use it in more formal situations.
If I was you, I would break up with him.
If I were you, I would break up with him.
Both of those sentences are the same.
If she was taller…
If she were taller…
she would be an air hostess.
So again we can use either, it’s totally okay.
‘were’ is a little more formal.
All right, phew, oh my gosh!
So after all of that,
I want you to practise writing some sentences with me
in the comments. Now if you’re feeling pretty confident
about this, go ahead and create your own sentences,
freestyle, you know. Get creative.
Give advice. Talk about hypothetical situations.
Give reasons why but if you’re feeling still maybe a
little uncertain,
I’ve added these questions in the description below
so all you need to do is copy them and paste them into
your comment and then complete the answers yourself.
So I’ll be down there checking your answers
all weekend to make sure you’re getting them right
and if you need some help and support, I’ll be there.
If you enjoyed this lesson, make sure you give it a like,
subscribe to my channel so that you know
when the next lesson is going to be ready for you.
As I said, I will be adding more lessons
just like this, with the first, the third, mixed conditionals
as well. They’re coming.
So I’m guessing that your grammar brain is a little
fried right now so if you’re keen to keep practising
with me, let’s try something a little lighter,
maybe some pronunciation perhaps.
Thanks for watching friends.
I will see soon. Bye!