Imagine and dream
I can talk about something unreal or unlikely and give advice with "if I were you".
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Grammar
15 minIn A2 #27 the condition was real: If it rains, I'll stay at home — rain is quite possible. But we often talk about what is not there: "if I had time", "if I lived by the sea". For this there is the second conditional.
The form: if + the past tense, and in the main part would + the base form.
| positive | If I had more time, I'd learn Italian. |
| negative | If I didn't have to work, I wouldn't get up at six. |
| question | What would you do if you won the lottery? |
| short answer | Yes, I would. / No, I wouldn't. |
'd is short for would, the same as in I'd like (A2 #17). The parts can change places: I'd learn Italian if I had more time. A comma is needed only when the part with if comes first. Instead of would there can be could — "would be able to": If I had a car, I could drive to work.
The past tense here does not mean the past. If I had more time is about today. The past form moves the event away from reality — just as in the polite Could you…? (A2 #17). Many languages do the same: French si j'avais du temps, Spanish si tuviera tiempo and German wenn ich Zeit hätte are past forms too, although they are about now.
When it is used.
About what is not there now: If I lived by the sea, I'd swim every day. I don't live by the sea.
About a future that is unlikely or imagined: What would you do if you won a million pounds? Winning is almost impossible, so it is the second conditional.
For advice: If I were you, I'd… — more about this below.
Compare the first and the second conditional. The difference is not in "if" but in how much the speaker believes in the condition:
| If I get the job, I'll move to Bristol. | A real chance: the interview went well. |
| If I got the job, I'd move to Bristol. | A small chance: I have almost no hope. |
The situation is the same, but the choice of conditional tells how you see it.
were for all persons. After if, be has a special form — were even with I, he, she: If I were rich…, If she were here… In conversation people often say If I was rich too — this is also correct, only simpler and less formal.
Advice: If I were you, I'd… — "in your place, I would…". Here native speakers almost always say were: If I were you, I'd talk to your manager. I wouldn't buy that car if I were you. This advice is softer than You should… (A2 #11): you are not teaching the person, you are putting yourself in their place. The first part is often left out: I'd talk to your manager — "in your place" is clear anyway.
would without if. The main part can also live on its own, when the condition is clear from the conversation or there is none at all: It would be nice to have a garden. — having a garden is a nice dream. I'd never do that. — not in any situation. Which city would you like to live in? It is the same unreality, only the "if" is not said. That is why would is heard so often in dreams, opinions and polite questions.
More examples:
| If I knew her number, I'd call her. | I don't know her number, so I don't call her. |
| If it wasn't so expensive, we'd go more often. | It's expensive, so we don't go often. |
| I'd be happier if I didn't live so far from work. | I live far from work, and it makes me less happy. |
| Would you live abroad if you could? | Imagine you could: would you live abroad? |
Don't say this. ✗ If I had more time, I will learn Italian → ✓ If I had more time, I'd learn Italian. If the condition is unreal, the main part is unreal too: will does not fit with it.
Check yourself. What does If I had a car, I'd drive to work mean: is there a car or not? How do you tell a friend, putting yourself in their place, not to worry? The chance of winning is almost zero — how do you finish If I ___ (win), I ___ (buy) a house?
show the answers
Common learner errors
written for your languagewould in both parts
✗ If I would have more time, I would learn Italian
✓ If I had more time, I would learn Italian
Spoken German (wenn ich mehr Zeit haben würde, würde ich…) and Dutch (als ik meer tijd zou hebben, zou ik…) can put the same verb in both parts. In English would goes only in the main part; after if the past tense does its job.
would can
✗ If I had a car, I would can drive to work
✓ If I had a car, I could drive to work
Spanish podría, French pourrais and Italian potrei look like "would" + "can". But can never goes after would: "would be able to" is simply could.
"In your place" word for word
✗ On your place I would talk to him
✓ If I were you, I'd talk to him
Polish (na twoim miejscu), Czech and Ukrainian give on your place, which English does not say. French à ta place and Italian al tuo posto give At your place, and that means "at your home". The usual formula for advice is If I were you.
If I was you
Not an error: native speakers say it in conversation. But in advice the fixed form is ✓ If I were you, and in writing it is safer. With I it is always was in the past, so I were sounds wrong to learners — it is easier to remember were as part of a ready-made formula.
Pronunciation
4 minwould in a positive sentence shrinks to /d/: I'd learn /aɪd ˈlɜːn/. By ear only one sound tells it from I learn, so rely on the if and the past tense next to it: they tell you that would is coming.
The full would is /wʊd/, it rhymes with good, and the letter l is silent. It is full and stressed in a short answer: Yes, I would. In a question and after a noun, without stress, it is weak — /wəd/: What would you do? /ˈwɒt wəd ju ˈduː/. wouldn't is /ˈwʊdnt/, with no vowel between /d/ and /n/.
were in If I were you is unstressed — /wə/: /ɪf aɪ wə ˈjuː/. The stress falls on you, and at the end of the advice the voice goes down: this makes it sound friendly and sure.
Text
5 minThis week we asked our readers: what would you do if you didn't have to work for a year?
Megan, a nurse from Cardiff: "I'd learn Italian properly. I'd find a small flat in Bologna, and I wouldn't speak a word of English for twelve months. If I lived there, I'd go to the market every morning and cook real Italian food. It would be a big adventure."
Dev, a taxi driver from Leeds: "Honestly? I'd sleep for a week first. Then I'd walk round the whole coast of Wales. It's about 870 miles, so if I walked twenty miles a day, I could finish it in about six weeks."
Lucy, a student from Belfast: "I wouldn't travel — everybody says that. I'd make my own computer game. I already have the idea. If I had more time, I'd finish it in a few months."
One reader sent us a different question: "My job is boring, but it's safe. Should I leave?" Our advice: if we were you, we wouldn't leave without a plan. We'd start an evening course first. If you enjoyed it, you could change jobs next year.
Exercises
30 min1. Gap fill.
- If I (have) more time, I (learn) to play the piano
- If she (live) closer, we (see) each other more often
- What you (do) if you (win) the lottery?
- If I (be) you, I (not / buy) that car
- I (go) to the party if I (not / have) to work
- If we (know) her address, we (send) her a card
- He (be) healthier if he (not / smoke)
- If I (can) speak French, I (apply) for that job in Paris
Show the answers
2. Multiple choice.
- If it (rain) tomorrow, we (stay) at home. (quite possible)
- If I (live) in London, I (go) to the theatre every week. (I don't live there)
- If you (hurry), you (catch) the bus. (you can make it)
- If I (have) a garden, I (grow) vegetables. (there is no garden)
- If she (call) tonight, I (tell) her the news. (she probably will)
- If dogs (can) talk, they (tell) us a lot. (a fantasy)
Show the answers
3. Error correction.
- If I would have more money, I would travel.
- If I have more time, I would learn Italian.
- On your place I would talk to the manager.
- If she knew the answer, she will tell us.
- What you would do if you won the lottery?
- If I were you, I would to call him.
Show the answers
4. Rewrite as an unreal condition,
- I don't have a car, so I don't drive to work.
- She doesn't speak Spanish, so she can't work in Madrid.
- We live in the city, so we don't have a garden.
- I'm not rich, so I can't buy a house by the sea.
- He works at weekends, so he can't come to the match.
- I don't know her number, so I can't call her.
Show the answers
5. Expand the prompt into advice
- I'm always tired. (go to bed earlier)
- My laptop is very slow. (buy a new one)
- I've got toothache. (see a dentist)
- My flat is too expensive. (look for a cheaper one)
- I'm thinking of leaving my job. (not / leave without a new one)
Show the answers
6. Answer in full sentences
— about yourself. The answers below are an example. 1) What would you do if you won a million pounds? 2) Where would you live if you could choose any city in the world? 3) What would you change in your life if you had more free time?
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7. Say it in English.
Each line describes a situation in simple words. Say it in one sentence, with the second conditional. 1) You don't have much time. That is the only reason you don't learn Italian. 2) Give a friend advice, putting yourself in their place: talk to the manager. 3) Ask a friend to imagine a big lottery win. What then? 4) You don't live by the sea. That is the only reason you don't swim every day. 5) You don't know her address, so you don't write to her.
Show the answers
Summary
Covered
- the second conditional in all its forms
- could instead of would
- the past tense as a distance from reality
- the choice between the first and the second conditional
- were for all persons
- advice with If I were you
Next — lesson 9: regrets and wishes.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
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Vocabulary for your deck
15 words- reader /ˈriːdə/ a person who reads a newspaper, a magazine or a book
- nurse /nɜːs/ a person who looks after ill people in a hospital
- properly /ˈprɒpəli/ well, in the right way
- market /ˈmɑːkɪt/ a place, often outside, where people buy and sell food and other things
- adventure /ədˈventʃə/ an exciting and unusual experience
- honestly /ˈɒnɪstli/ to tell the truth
- mile /maɪl/ a measure of distance, about 1.6 kilometres
- boring /ˈbɔːrɪŋ/ not interesting
- safe /seɪf/ (of a job) certain to stay, with little risk
- advice /ədˈvaɪs/ what you tell someone they should do
- evening course /ˈiːvnɪŋ kɔːs/ a set of classes for adults in the evening
- lottery /ˈlɒtəri/ a game where people buy tickets with numbers and can win money
- win /wɪn/ to get money or a prize in a game or competition
- toothache /ˈtuːθeɪk/ a pain in a tooth
- apply for /əˈplaɪ fɔː/ to ask in writing for a job or a place
Writing
Five or six sentences: what you would do if you didn't have to work for a year, and one piece of advice to a friend with If I were you.
Example
If I didn't have to work for a year, I'd travel round South America. I'd learn Spanish on the way, and I'd write a blog about the trip. If I had enough money, I'd also buy a good camera. My friend Tom wants to leave his job, but he hasn't found a new one yet. I said to him: "If I were you, I wouldn't leave without a plan."
Checklist
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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