Conditional Mood

Lesson
Conditional Mood

Essential Question

How do we communicate the relationship between cause and effect?

Grammar in the World

What Do I Know?

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Use the interactive below to see how much you already know about the conditional mood:

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

Learn About Conditional Mood

You may recognize the term "conditional statement" from your study of mathematics or logic. A hypothesis is the "if" part of the statement, and the conclusion is the "then" part. For example: If A = B and B = C, then A = C

Conditionals in English work the same way:

If you enjoy cookies (hypothesis), then you will love the "Grandma's Cookies" shop in St. Charles, Missouri (conclusion).

Conditionals help us explore possibilities and test hypotheses by answering these questions:

What will happen if we do something regularly?

If I eat cookies for breakfast, lunch, and supper, I don’t feel well.

What will happen if we do something once?

If I get the ingredients, I will make cookies this afternoon.

What will happen if we do not do something?

If I don’t get the ingredients, I won’t make cookies today.

What probably won’t happen?

If I had a trillion dollars, I would give a free cookie to everyone.

What would (or would not) have happened if we had (or had not) done something?

If I hadn’t eaten all those cookies, I wouldn’t feel so sick right now.

Conditionals can be playful and help us express our imagination. They can be serious as we think through the consequences of something. They can express hope and confidence or sadness and regret. If you learn to use conditionals, you will express yourself in all sorts of ways. (See what we did there?)

TYPES OF CONDITIONALS

There are four types of conditional sentences. Use this chart to help you see how each type is similar and different.

Type of Conditional	Time	Purpose	Form	Example
Zero Conditional	Present	Shows the result of a repeated condition; often expresses something that is generally true	Conditional Clause: If + present tense verb, Result Clause: present tense verb	If I go to St. Louis, I visit the Gateway Arch every time. If I visit the Gateway Arch, I ride the tram all the way to the top.
First Conditional (Real/True)	Present/Future	Shows what is likely to happen if the condition is met.	Conditional Clause: If + present tense verb, Result Clause: Future tense (will) + verb	If you ride the tram, you will reach the top of the Gateway Arch in four minutes. If they measure the height and width of the Gateway Arch, they will find that it is 630 feet by 630 feet—as tall as it is wide.
Second Conditional (Unreal/Untrue)	Present/Future	Shows the outcome of something if a specific condition is met, but that condition is “untrue” or not real, making the result highly unlikely.	Conditional Clause: If + past tense verb, Result Clause: Future tense (would) + verb	If I rebuilt the Gateway Arch, I would add another 621 feet to make it one foot taller than the Empire State Building. If you were President of the United States, you would need an extra security detail to travel to the top of the Gateway Arch.
Third Conditional	Past	Shows a hypothetical situation in which a different outcome would have resulted if a particular condition had been met.	Conditional Clause: If + past perfect verb (had or had been + past participle), Result Clause: Conditional perfect tense (would have or would have been) + past tense verb	If we had been born in 1963, we would have seen the construction of the Gateway Arch. If the measurements of its legs had been incorrect by even half a millimeter, the pieces of the Gateway Arch would have failed to connect at the top.

Here are some tips to remember when forming conditional statements:

1. The order of a conditional statement can be flipped.

If I have the ingredients, I will make cookies this afternoon.
I will make cookies this afternoon if I have the ingredients.
You will reach the top of the Gateway Arch in four minutes if you ride the tram.
If you ride the tram, you will reach the top of the Arch in four minutes.

2. Sometimes, you will see the word “then” in a conditional statement. In this case, the “if” part of the statement must come first.

If I have the ingredients, then I will make cookies this afternoon.
If you ride the tram, then you will reach the top of the Gateway Arch in four minutes.

Do I Get It?

Use the interactive below to test your new knowledge of conditional mood: