Second and third conditional

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Exercises

Test 1. Use the second and third conditionals to respond to the following situations.

My car is out of order. I can't drive you there.
But if my car wasn't out of order, I would drive you there.



I don't know his address. I can't contact him.

But if I his address, I him.

He was ill. He couldn't go skiing.

But if he ill, he skiing.

He didn't buy any tomatoes. I couldn't make a salad.

But if he some tomatoes, I a salad.

We haven't enough room in our house. You can't stay with us.

But if we enough room, you with us.

You were not lucky. You didn't win.

But if you lucky, you .

I am eighteen. I can vote.

But if I eighteen, I .

Test 2. Choose the second or third conditional forms to complete these sentences.

I her tonight if I were you.

Would you mind if we together?

You shouldn't have criticized him unless you a good reason.

It would be too late if the school already .

I wouldn't go there unless they me.

She pleased if you had gone with her.

I wouldn't have bought it if I it.

She down if you had given her a hand.

How would you have responded in case he rude?

We would find a solution if you us advice.

Conditional sentences Exercises with answers and grammar rules.

How to use the second and third conditional

The second conditional is used to speculate about the present or future. The third conditional is used to speculate about the past.

Second conditional

We use the second conditional to speculate about actions or situations that will probably never happen or that sound unlikely. We usually make it with if + the past simple in the if-clause and would + the base form of a verb in the main clause.

If I wanted to live in a foreign country now, I would move to France.
Daniel wouldn't come to the party tonight if you didn't invite him.
What would you do if you met a burglar in your living room?

Third conditional

We use the third conditional to speculate about actions or situations that happened or did not happen in the past. We usually make it with if + the past perfect in the if-clause and would + have + the past participle in the main clause.

If I had wanted to live in a foreign country when I was young, I would have moved to France.
Daniel wouldn't have come to the party yesterday if you hadn't invited him.
You say that you saw a light in your living room. What would you have done if you had met a burglar there?

Note

We usually use 'if' in the if-clause and 'would' in the main clause of conditional sentences. But other expressions are also possible.

I would take an umbrella in case it rained.
I could lend you some money on condition that you gave it back to me next week.
Tim might help you unless he was ill.
We could have signed the contract provided that the price hadn't been so high.

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