Exercise 1
Choose the correct option to complete the sentences below.
You have completed this test.
Correct answers: 9/10.
Your score is 90%.
Check your answers:
Would you know what to do if you were having
a heart attack?➪ This is a second conditional sentence; we use past (simple or continuous) in the if clause.
If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t be here now.➪ This is a mixed conditional: If it hadn’t been for you (third conditional), I wouldn’t be here now (second conditional).
As long as she needs me, I’ll be there for her.➪ This is a first conditional sentence; we use present (simple, continuous, perfect) in the if clause.
➪ We can use the expressions as long as, provided/providing (that), on condition (that), or only if instead of if when we want to emphasize the condition that needs to be present so that something can happen or be done.
I wouldn’t be living here if I had the choice.➪ This is a second conditional sentence: we use if + past (simple or continuous).
If there hadn’t been a fire extinguisher, the house would have burned down.➪ This is a third conditional sentence; we use would have/could have/might have + past participle in the main clause.
You cannot become a member, unless you receive an invitation.➪ This is a zero conditional sentence; we use present tenses (simple, continuous or perfect) both in the if clause and in the main clause.
Had you been
happier if you had never met her? Correct answer: Would you have been
➪ This is a third conditional sentence; we use would have/could have/might have + past participle in the main clause.
If I had never met her, now I would be happier.➪ This is a mixed conditional sentence. If I had never met her (third conditional), now I would be happier (second conditional).
I ‘m going to pass the exam even if I have to cheat.➪ This is a first conditional sentence; we can use any type of future in the main clause.
They might have spent the whole week at the campsite, provided they had brought enough food and water.➪ This is a third conditional sentence; we use past perfect (simple or continuous) in the if clause.
Exercise 2
Choose the correct option/s for each gap below.
You have completed this test.
Correct answers: 9/10.
Your score is 90%.
Check your answers:
If I were you, I ______ anything. Choose TWO correct options
- a. hadn’t said
- b. wouldn’t say(correct)
- c. wouldn’t be said(wrong)
- d. wouldn’t have said(correct)
➪ If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything = second conditional
➪ If I were you, I wouldn’t have said anything = mixed conditional
If I’d known, I ______ you. Choose TWO correct options
- a. might have helped(correct)
- b. would help
- c. might help
- d. would have helped(correct)
➪ This is a third conditional sentence.
➪ This is a third conditional sentence; we use would have/could have/might have + past participle in the main clause.
If we had planned this better, we ______ in so much trouble now.
- a. wouldn’t have been
- b. hadn’t been
- c. wouldn’t be(correct)
- d. weren’t
➪ This is a mixed conditional sentence: If we had planned this better (third conditional), we wouldn’t be (second conditional) in so much trouble now.
______ your job, you will need enough money to sustain yourself for a few months. Choose TWO correct options
- a. If you lose(correct)
- b. Whether you lose
- c. Should you lose(correct)
- d. Had you lose
➪ This is a first conditional sentence.
➪ In first conditional sentences it’s possible to use should at the beginning of the sentence instead of if. This form is formal and it’s quite common with an imperative form in the main clause.
We are going to go ahead with the plan, ______ . Choose TWO correct options
- a. whether or not they like it(correct)
- b. even if they won’t like it
- c. provided that they will like it
- d. whether they like it or not(correct)
➪ This is a first conditional sentence.
➪ We use whether or not when there are two alternatives and we want to say that something will happen or will be true in any of those two alternatives.
This might never have happened ______ me earlier. Choose TWO correct options
- a. if you would have told
- b. had you told(correct)
- c. if you had told(correct)
- d. if you told
➪ This is a third conditional sentence.
➪ In third conditional sentences, we can invert the auxiliary verb had and leave if out. Had we arrived = ‘If we had arrived.’
If he ______ out who did it, he would kill them.
- a. found(correct)
- b. would find
- c. had found
- d. would have found
➪ This is a second conditional sentence; we use past (simple or continuous) in the if clause.
You’ll miss the train ______ a taxi. Choose TWO correct options
- a. in case you take
- b. even if you take(correct)
- c. provided that you take
- d. whether or not you take(correct)
➪ This is a first conditional sentence; we use present (simple, continuous, perfect) in the if clause.
➪ We use whether or not when there are two alternatives and we want to say that something will happen or will be true in any of those two alternatives. Whether or not you take a taxi= ‘if you take a taxi and if you don’t take a taxi.’
➪ We also use even if to mean ‘whether or not’ (for emphasis).
If I had known about your plans earlier, I ______ you. Choose TWO correct options
- a. might have warned(correct)
- b. might warn
- c. would warn
- d. would have warned(correct)
➪ This is a third conditional sentence; we use would have/could have/might have + past participle in the main clause.
______ you out, would you have asked her out? Choose TWO correct options
- a. Supposing she hadn’t asked(correct)
- b. If she hadn’t asked(correct)
- c. Provided that she wouldn’t have asked
- d. If she wouldn’t have asked
➪ This is a third conditional sentence; we normally use past perfect in the if clause, and would have/could have/might have + past participle in the main clause.
➪ We can use suppose or supposing at the beginning of a sentence to make someone imagine a situation. It means ‘what would happen if’, or simply ‘if’ (imagining a situation).