If Conditional Sentence
There are 3 kinds of conditional sentence
- · True in the Present / Future Time
- · Untrue in the Present / Future Time
- · Untrue in the Past Time
1. True in The Present / Future Time
Form
if + Simple Present, will-Future
Example: If I find her address, I will send her an invitation .
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I will send her an invitation if I find her address .
The function is to show / explain plan, advice, and possibility / probability
For example
- If you don't have breakfast, you will be hungry.
- If the magazine is on my table, you can take it.
- If you come early you will not get punish from our headmaster.
Use
Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. An action in the future will only happen if a certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We don't know for sure whether the condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather realistic – so we think it is likely to happen.
Example:
If I find her address, I will send her an invitation.
I want to send an invitation to a friend. I just have to find her address. I am quite sure, however, that I will find it.
Example:
If John has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.
I know John very well and I know that he earns a lot of money and that he loves Ferraris. So I think it is very likely that sooner or later he will have the money to buy a Ferrari.
2. Untrue in the Present / Future Time
Form
if + Simple Past, main clause with Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)
Example:
If I found her address, I would send her an invitation .
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example:
I would send her an invitation if I found her address .
Were instead of Was
In IF Clauses Type II, we usually use ‚were‘ – even if the pronoun is I , he , she or it –.
Example:
If I were you, I would not do this .
The function of conditional sentence type two is to explain our imagination.
For Example
- If the price of gasoline were only Rp. 1000 I would be very happy.
- What would you do if you found $100.00 on the street.
- If I had a lot of money, I wouldn't stay here.
Use
Conditional Sentences Type II refer to situations in the present. An action could happen if the present situation were different. I don't really expect the situation to change, however. I just imagine „what would happen if …“
Example:
If I found her address, I would send her an invitation .
I would like to send an invitation to a friend. I have looked everywhere for her address, but I cannot find it. So now I think it is rather unlikely that I will eventually find her address.
Example:
If John had the money, he would buy a Ferrari .
I know John very well and I know that he doesn't have much money, but he loves Ferraris. He would like to own a Ferrari (in his dreams). But I think it is very unlikely that he will have the money to buy one in the near future.
3. Untrue In the Past Time
Form
if + Past Perfect, main clause with Conditional II
Example:
If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation .
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example:
I would have sent her an invitation if I had found her address .
Use
Conditional Sentences Type III refer to situations in the past. An action could have happened in the past if a certain condition had been fulfilled. Things were different then, however. We just imagine, what would have happened if the situation had been fulfilled.
Example:
If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation .
Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation to a friend. I didn't find her address, however. So in the end I didn't send her an invitation.
Example:
If John had had the money, he would have bought a Ferrari .
I knew John very well and I know that he never had much money, but he loved Ferraris. He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he never had the money to buy one.
