A conditional clause expresses a condition – something which must happen first so that something else can happen. Conditional clauses are also called if-clauses.

There are mainly three types of conditional clauses in English.

• Type 1 conditional
• Type 2 conditional
• Type 3 conditional

Type 1 conditional

The type 1 conditional is used to talk about real and possible situations. In type 1 conditional, we use a simple present tense in the if-clause and will / may / can + bare infinitive (v1) in the main clause.

• If she arrives late, we will go without her.
• If he misbehaves, I will ask him to leave.
• If you marry me, you will live a happy life.

Type 2 conditional

Type 2 conditional is used to talk about imaginary or improbable situations. In type 2 conditional, we use a simple past tense in the if-clause and would / might / could + bare infinitive (v1) in the main clause.

• If she arrived late, we would go without her.
• If he misbehaved, I would ask him to leave.
• If you married me, you would live a happy life.

Type 3 conditional

Type 3 conditional is used to talk about purely hypothetical or impossible situations. In type 3 conditional, we use past perfect tense in the if-clause and would / could / might + have + past participle in the main clause.

• If she had arrived late, we would have gone without her.
• If he had misbehaved, I would have asked him to leave.
• If you had married me, you would have lived a happy life.

Conditional clauses worksheet

Fill in the blanks using an appropriate verb form.

1. What will we do, if we ……………………. the money? (do not get / did not get / had not gotten)

2. How will we live if I ……………………. my job? (lose / lost / had lost)

3. What would you do if she ……………………….. you? (do not recognise / did not recognise / had not recognised)

4. If you …………………….. now, you will reach there by evening. (start / started / had started)

5. We ………………………. in trouble if we hadn’t got the money. (will be / would be / would have been)

6. If she secured better grades she ………………………… a prestigious university. (can join / could join / could have joined)

7. If you …………………… some food, you would have felt better now. (eat / ate / had eaten)

8. If the teacher had found out, she …………………………. him out the class. (will throw / would throw / would have thrown)

9. If they had delivered a good performance, the audience ……………………… them. (will not boo / would not boo / would not have booed)

10. If I ………………….. time, I could cook a proper meal. (have / had / had had)

11. If you …………………… some money you would not be in financial difficulty now. (save / saved / had saved)

12. If had known about his problems, I …………………….. (will help / would help / would have helped)

13. If he ……………………….. me, I wouldn’t have slapped him. (do not abuse / did not abuse / had not abused)

14. If he received proper medical care, he …………………………….. (can survive / could survive / could have survived)

15. If she …………………………… better in the interview, she could have gotten the job. (does / did / had done)

Answers

1. do not get

2. lose

3. did not recognise

4. start

5. would have been

6. could join

7. had eaten

8. would have thrown

9. would not have booed

10. had

11. saved

12. would have helped

13. had not abused

14. could survive

15. had done