Say "if"
I can say what will happen under a condition, and state a general rule.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Grammar
5 minTwo types of conditional sentences, and both are about real things.
The zero conditional — a general truth, always so:
| If you heat water, it boils. | this is always true |
| If I work late, I get tired. | every time I work late |
Both parts are in the present. Instead of if you often hear when here — the meaning is the same.
The first conditional — a real future:
| If it rains, I'll stay at home. | maybe it will rain tomorrow; then I'll stay |
| If you come early, we'll have time. | maybe you will come early; then we'll have time |
THE MAIN RULE: there is NO future after if. English uses the present there, although it is about the future.
| ✗ | ✓ |
|---|---|
| If it will rain… | If it rains… |
The order of the parts is free; you need a comma only when if comes first: If it rains, I'll stay at home. = I'll stay at home if it rains.
if and when are different in the first conditional: when I come home — I will come, for sure; if I come home early — maybe yes, maybe no.
Common learner errors
written for your languageThe future after if
✗ If it will rain, I'll stay at home
✗ If you will come, I will be happy
✓ If it rains…
If you come, I'll be happy. Italian (se pioverà), Polish, Czech and Russian use the future in both parts, so the English rule seems strange. This is the main mistake of the lesson.
The present in both parts
✗ If it rains tomorrow, I stay at home
✓ If it rains tomorrow, I'll stay at home
German, Dutch and Swedish often use the present for the future in both parts. In English the other part takes will, as in A2 #9; the present in both parts is only for a general truth: If you heat water, it boils.
when for if
✗ When it rains tomorrow, we'll stay at home (meaning "maybe") → ✓ If it rains tomorrow, we'll stay at home. German wenn and Dutch als mean both. when says that it will happen for sure.
A comma before if
✗ I'll stay at home, if it rains
✓ I'll stay at home if it rains
German, Polish and Russian always put a comma before "if"; English only when the if part comes first.
Pronunciation
3 minif is unstressed and very short — /ɪf/, and it often joins the next word: if it rains sounds like /ɪfɪt ˈreɪnz/.
In the main part 'll is almost silent (A2 #9): I'll stay — /aɪl steɪ/. So by ear you recognise a conditional sentence by if and by the pause between the parts, not by will.
Text
3 minIf it rains tomorrow, we'll stay at home and watch a film. If the weather is good, we'll go to the park. I always take an umbrella when I go to London — if you don't take one, it rains. If you come before seven, we'll have time for coffee.
Exercises
8–10 min1. Gap fill.
- If it (rain), I (stay) at home
- If you (come) early, we (have) time
- If you (heat) water, it (boil)
Show the answers
2. Error correction.
- If it will rain, I'll stay at home.
- If you will come, I will be happy.
- I'll stay at home, if it rains.
Show the answers
3. Match the halves.
- If I have time
- If it snows
- If you heat water
Show the answers
4. Finish the sentence.
If the weather is good tomorrow, … Example: … I'll go to the park.
Summary
Covered
- the zero and the first conditional
- no future after if
- the comma rule
- if against when
Next — lesson 28: then and now.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
optional
Vocabulary for your deck
12 words- if /ɪf/ under the condition that; maybe — and then…
- boil /bɔɪl/ to get so hot that bubbles come up (water boils at 100 degrees)
- heat /hiːt/ to make something hot or warm
- snow /snəʊ/ soft white ice that falls from the sky; to fall like this
- flood /flʌd/ a lot of water over land that is usually dry; to cover with water
- melt /melt/ to turn from ice or snow into water
- remember /rɪˈmembə/ to keep something in your head; not to forget
- hurry /ˈhʌri/ to do something or go somewhere fast because there is little time
- miss /mɪs/ to be too late for (a bus, a train); not to see or hear
- catch /kætʃ/ to get on (a bus, a train) in time; to take something that is flying
- tomorrow /təˈmɒrəʊ/ the day after today
- before /bɪˈfɔː/ earlier than
Writing
Four sentences about your plans for tomorrow in different weather.
Example
If it rains tomorrow, we'll stay at home. If the weather is good, we'll go to the park. If you come before seven, we'll have time for coffee. If it snows, we won't go to the park.
Checklist
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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