Grammar Zone | The Second Conditional
The A to Z English Podcast
Understanding the Second Conditional in Grammar and Giving Hypothetical Advice
This chapter explores the concept of the second conditional in grammar, explaining its use in imagining hypothetical or unreal situations and giving advice based on those situations. The hosts provide examples, compare it to the first conditional, and invite audience participation.
In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Jack explains the second conditional.
Second Conditional: If + past simple, would + base form. (Used for unreal or unlikely situations in the present or future)
Example:
If I won the lottery, I would travel the world.
If I were a superhero, I would be Ironman.
If a tiger walked into the room, I would hide under a table.
If I were you, I would go to the doctor.
Transcript:
00:00:01
Jack
Welcome to the ADIZ English podcast. My name is Jack and today I have.
00:00:06
Jack
Another solo episode.
00:00:08
Jack
And we are in the grammar zone.
00:00:13
Jack
And today's grammar is.
00:00:15
Jack
Something that is called the 2nd conditional, the 2nd conditional and the 2nd conditional is.
00:00:27
Jack
Another if clause where we start the sentence with. If we say if and then we use the past simple.
00:00:36
Jack
And then the second clause of this sentence.
00:00:40
Jack
We use wood.
00:00:41
Jack
Plus the base form of the verb.
00:00:45
Jack
And so let me give you an example here.
00:00:47
발표자
OK.
00:00:50
Jack
And the difference between first conditional and 2nd conditional is the first conditional is a real or possible situation in the future. So the first conditional would be if it rains, I will stay indoors.
00:01:08
Jack
And we use the if plus the present simple and then will plus the base form.
00:01:15
Jack
And it's because these are likely or possible situations, but the second conditional is for unlikely or unreal or impossible situations, so things that we can imagine, another word we use in English to describe the 2nd conditional is.
00:01:36
Jack
Hypothetical situations.
00:01:39
Jack
And a hypothetical is something that is.
00:01:43
Jack
Perhaps it's not physically possible. It's an imaginary situation.
00:01:49
Jack
UM or something that's very unlikely to.
00:01:52
Jack
Happen. So here's.
00:01:53
Jack
An unlikely one. If I won the lottery.
00:01:59
Jack
I would travel the world.
00:02:03
Jack
So everybody knows winning the lottery is.
00:02:08
Jack
Very, very unlikely. Even if you have a ticket or even if you have.
00:02:14
Jack
A lot of tickets.
00:02:16
Jack
It's very unlikely that you are going to win the lottery, but.
00:02:23
Jack
It's fun to imagine.
00:02:25
Jack
What you would do?
00:02:28
Jack
If you were to win the lottery so we can make a sentence like this.
00:02:33
Jack
If I won the lottery, I would travel the world.
00:02:40
Jack
And so notice how instead of saying if I win the lottery.
00:02:45
Jack
For the second conditional, we say if I won the lottery and instead of saying I will travel the world, we say I would travel the world.
00:02:57
Jack
And here's an impossible one.
00:03:00
Jack
And I'm going.
00:03:01
Jack
To talk about the grammar in this one a little bit.
00:03:04
Jack
After I give you the example.
00:03:07
Jack
If I were a superhero.
00:03:10
Jack
I would be Iron Man.
00:03:13
Jack
Now we all know that superheroes are not real.
00:03:17
Jack
They only exist in comic books and movies and television shows.
00:03:24
Jack
We can imagine.
00:03:27
Jack
What it would be like to be a superhero.
00:03:31
Jack
So we say if I were a.
00:03:33
Jack
Superhero. I would be Iron Man.
00:03:37
Jack
Now I know what you're thinking. You're asking this question, Jack. Why did you say were instead of was?
00:03:45
Jack
And this is.
00:03:48
Jack
Because it's not technically a simple past, it's what we call the subjunctive mood.
00:03:55
Jack
And when we're using the subjunctive mood, we don't have to use was. We just use only were. So if I were or if my house were bigger.
00:04:09
Jack
I would have more rooms.
00:04:13
Jack
If I were a superhero, I would be Iron Man.
00:04:19
Jack
If I were a color.
00:04:21
Jack
I would be the color blue.
00:04:24
Jack
Right. We can't be a color.
00:04:27
Jack
UM, but we can imagine what color kind of represents our personality.
00:04:35
Jack
OK, maybe someone else would say if I wear a color, I would be orange because maybe you're warm and you're a warm and sunny person.
00:04:48
Jack
Here's another example of a second conditional sentence that is just very, very, very unlikely.
00:04:56
Jack
I'm sitting in my office in my home right now, recording this podcast.
00:05:02
Jack
And if I.
00:05:03
Jack
Said this sentence, if a tiger walked into the room.
00:05:09
Jack
I would hide.
00:05:11
Jack
Under a table.
00:05:13
Jack
What are the?
00:05:14
Jack
Odds that a tiger is going to walk into my room.
00:05:21
Jack
It's very, very, very small. I don't live in a country that has tigers. There are tigers at the zoo.
00:05:29
Jack
But I don't think any of them.
00:05:31
Jack
Are wandering around my apartment.
00:05:35
Jack
So it would be very unlikely, but I can imagine the situation right. If a tiger walked into the room, I would hide under the table.
00:05:46
Jack
If I saw a ghost.
00:05:49
Jack
I would be scared. OK, most people.
00:05:53
Jack
Don't believe in ghosts. They're not real, but.
00:05:56
Jack
We can imagine.
00:05:59
Jack
What that would be like?
00:06:01
Jack
Because we've seen movies with ghosts and ghosts, and we tell ghost stories to each other.
00:06:08
Jack
So that's the that's the second conditional and we can also use the 2nd conditional to give advice to people.
00:06:16
Jack
So here's an example of of giving advice. If I said to my friend oh.
00:06:22
Jack
I don't feel well. I have a cough and.
00:06:25
Jack
A sore throat.
00:06:28
Jack
My friend could say.
00:06:31
Jack
If I were you.
00:06:33
Jack
I would go to the doctor.
00:06:36
Jack
And this is a way to give advice using the 2nd conditional, because the sentences if.
00:06:42
Jack
I were you.
00:06:45
Jack
I can't be you, and you can't be me, we.
00:06:48
Jack
Cannot change bodies, right?
00:06:51
Jack
So I can only imagine.
00:06:53
Jack
If I were in your situation.
00:06:56
Jack
What I would do if I were you, I would go to the doctor.
00:07:04
Jack
And the second conditional, you know it's very useful in these situations where we're imagining.
00:07:11
Jack
Hypothetical situations.
00:07:15
Jack
Either in the future or impossible imaginary.
00:07:21
Jack
And and then giving some kind of result or or action. You know something that you would do?
00:07:29
Jack
If that condition were actually true, if you were a superhero, which superhero would you be if a tiger walked into the room?
00:07:38
Jack
What would you do?
00:07:42
Jack
If you are sick.
00:07:43
Jack
What would you do?
00:07:45
Jack
Well, I would go to the doctor.
00:07:49
Jack
And so that's it. That's the second conditional.
00:07:53
Jack
And it's different than the first conditional. Like I said, the first conditional is more like real situations. You know, if I see Lisa.
00:08:03
Jack
I will tell her to call you.
00:08:06
Jack
OK, well I you know, sometimes I see Lisa. Lisa is a student.
00:08:11
Jack
At my school, so if I see her, I will tell her to call you, OK?
00:08:18
Jack
UM, that's first conditional.
00:08:21
Jack
But second conditional.
00:08:23
Jack
Would be.
00:08:25
Jack
You know things that are imaginary, unreal or hypothetical.
00:08:30
Jack
And so hopefully this is useful information for you all and.
00:08:36
Jack
As usual, if you want to leave a comment about this grammar, if you have a question or if you would like to make your own sentences, you could comment on our website azenglishpodcast.com.
00:08:51
Jack
You can send us an e-mail at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com.
00:08:57
Jack
You can join.
00:08:58
Jack
Our WhatsApp group, the eight, is the English podcast WhatsApp group. By clicking the link below.
00:09:04
Jack
And leave some example sentences there. You can also join our WeChat Group and I know a lot of our our Chinese listeners out there are using WeChat, so don't be shy. Join our WeChat Group and send me a message. I will definitely get back to you.
00:09:23
Jack
And with that.
00:09:24
Jack
Said we will see you next time. Thanks everybody.
00:09:30
Jack
Bye bye.
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