We have been learning about various conditionals and how they can be used to bring out different sentences in English. In this session, we would be working on the second conditional sentence structure. We would be checking out different examples to understand the concept in a better way.
Second Conditional Sentence Structure Rules
The If Clauses – Type 2 are used to express a possible condition and its probable result. The condition specified in the clause sentences is not actual but an imagination for example dreams, unreal situations and things that have very less chance of happening.
In the second conditional, the structural will use and it would be a very impossible or very unusual situation.
- If I won a championship I’d be the one to travel for sports.
- Where would you choose to reside if you could live anywhere in the world?
- If Flora didn’t argue with everyone all the time on all the topics, she would have a more relaxed life.
In English grammar, when you need to form second conditional just follow the sentence structure rule.
Format Rule : If + Past Simple + Would + Infinitive
Just note that it is not important which clause will come first but it should display some condition.
Let’s see some examples to understand it in a better way.
- If it’s a holiday tomorrow, we’ll go fishing.
In the above sentence, whatever the speaker is saying is possible.
- If I wasn’t at the gym, I’d be on the flight.
In this sentence, you would observe that it is impossible because the speaker is at work and the second clause of the sentence is just imaginary.
Writing Type 2 If Clauses using Auxiliary Verbs
To explain the conditional sentences, most of the time we use auxiliary words such as – will/would, can/could OR may/might.
Let’s explore some examples to understand how auxiliary verbs are used in type 2 if clauses.
- If it is hot, you could get skin tan.
- You would get skin tan if it is hot.
- If you went to bed before brushing you wouldn’t be so lazy.
- You wouldn’t be so tired if you went to bed earlier.
- If she fell, she would hurt herself.
- She would hurt herself if she fell.
It would not be surprising to know that the second conditional is just like the first one. It shows that the speaker is thinking of the future or some imaginary situation. But the particular condition do not have any sort of real possibility of any such thing happening.
For instance, you have a lottery ticket, then you might have the slightest chance of winning it. But when you say that, you would be buying a lottery ticket in the future, then winning it becomes absolutely absurd.
Examples of Second Conditional If Clauses
- If I ever won the championship, I would take it to the grand house.
- If I met the President Of US, I would ask him about area 51.
- Flora would travel all over the world if she were rich.
- Laura would easily pass all the exams if she ever studied.
- I would be happy if I had more holiday packages.
- It would be necessary to tell you the answer if I knew what it was.
- It is a fact that there would be fewer or no accidents if everyone drove more carefully.
- It was correct to think that we would have some money if we hadn’t purchased the house.
- I think she would come if I paid her for all the flights.
- I would like to ask would you accept the job if they offered it to you?
- What would you do if you somehow won the lottery?
- What would you do if you saw a Giant Gorilla?
- If Diya were not in debt for her house, she would quit her job.
- If Pratik were taller, he’d be accepted into the inter-school football team.
- Mohit would still be working on the project if she were still alive.
Conclusion:
Just like Zero and First Conditional sentences, now you are familiar with the second conditional sentences also. Now you can easily distinguish among the three different sentence structures. With this ultimate blog post, you would be knowing the better way to use the words – ‘should’, ‘would’, ‘could’. We hope you liked it! For more updates, you can keep visiting our website Englishbix.