The First Conditional The first conditional has the present simple after 'if', then the future simple in the other clause: if + present simple, ... will + infinitive It's used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can't know what will happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily come true. If it rains, I won't go to the park.If I study today, I'll go to the party tonight.If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes.She'll be late if the train is delayed.She'll miss the bus if she doesn't leave soon.If I see her, I'll tell her.First vs. The first conditional describes a particular situation, whereas the zero conditional describes what happens in general. For example (zero conditional): if you sit in the sun, you get burned (here I'm talking about every time a person sits in the sun - the burning is a natural consequence of the sitting) First vs. Click here for an exercise about making the first conditional
Random Idea English: Zero Conditional - there's more to it than water boiling at 100°C This is intended to be one of several posts where I take a look at conditionals from a rather different angle. Zero Conditional rarely gets more than a couple of lines in course books; I'm going to look at in rather more detail, and hopefully encourage you to think about its function, not simply its form. 1. Zero conditional - the basic principle The most important thing to note is that Zero conditionals are about conditions which are generally true, NOT about conditions on specific occasions. Zero Conditionals - the classic rule The classic rule often quoted for Zero conditional is if + present simple, ........... present simple Exercise 1 - Match the sentences to their functions below 2. They usually have the same tense in both condition clause and result clause. 3. Although Zero conditionals usually use parallel structures (the same tense in each clause), many experts agree that we can also use modals and imperatives in the result clause of a Zero conditional. A. B. D. 4. 5. Case study 1 6.
English Grammar lessons We use the First Conditional to talk about future events that are likely to happen. If we take John, he'll be really pleased. If you give me some money, I'll pay you back tomorrow. If they tell us they want it, we'll have to give it to them. If Mary comes, she'll want to drive. The 'if' clause can be used with different present forms. If I go to New York again, I'll buy you a souvenir from the Empire State Building. The "future clause" can contain 'going to' or the future perfect as well as 'will'. If I see him, I'm going to tell him exactly how angry I am. The "future clause" can also contain other modal verbs such as 'can' and 'must'. If you go to New York, you must have the cheesecake in Lindy's. Return to List of Grammar Lessons