How do we form the second conditional?
If + past + would + verb
Meaning
Second conditional is used in situations/actions in the present or future which are not likely to happen or are imaginary, hypothetical or impossible.
- If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world and buy a castle.
I think it is very unlikely that I will win the lottery. However, in this unlikely condition, I will travel and buy a castle.
- If I wasn’t watching TV now, I would be playing football.
I am watching TV, but I am imagining an alternative activity I would be doing if I wasn’t watching TV.
- If I were an alien, I would be able to travel around the universe.
It is impossible for me to be an alien. However, I am imagining what I would do in this situation
Additional points
Other modal verbs can be used in place of would:
- If I had more money, I could buy a car.
Buying a car would be possible.
- If I won the lottery, I might give all the money to charity.
Giving the money to charity is only a possibility.
15 comments
Jez
Okay, here’s a question that I’m sure many teachers can identify with…
How can I make students really understand, and remember, that the second conditional is not talking about the past?! I’ve often thought that they have it, only to review it the next day, or the next week, or at the end of the course, to find that they haven’t got it at all.
The problem seems to be that it’s difficult to conceptualise the use of the past tense to talk about something other than the past. First conditional is rarely a problem, but second conditional…
If anyone has any good ideas, I’ll be eternally grateful!
Steve
Call me picky but it’s not the past that we use in the 2nd C! It’s the subjunctive – proof of that can be seen in “If I were you…”, “were” is clearly not the past of 1st person verb “to be”.
But… of course most students don’t need to know that, they need to know that we use the past form in most cases but it’s not the past. The declarative information is generally more useful for teachers rather than students.
Having said that, I like the rain / tiger scenario though can’t see how either can be easily identified by students as “future”! :)
Is it also worth remembering that Order / Sequence of Acquisition research suggests that learners cannot be “hot housed” – they get hold of stuff when they are ready to? In addition, “U” shaped learning could well come into play when talking about a complex item such as 2nd C. Learners may lose it over time while it is being processed only to re-find it (so to speak) when the processing is complete. Message? Let things settle before assuming they are not there at all.
Justyna
What you have to do is to refer to PAST not merely as past but something that is distant. In other words PAST = DISTANCE. Try using gestures, pictures. What happened is further away than what is happening right now.
In the second conditional we use PAST to DISTANCE ourselves from these events that we talk about using this conditional, to show that it is not now, it could be now, but it is hardly possible. It’s not likely to happen, that’s why we use past, to show that what is now and what could happen (the events in the second conditional) is distant.
Come back to the first conditional and compare it with the second.
If I get up early, I’ll do more work. -> normal situation, I can get up early, no problem for me
If I got up early, I’d do more work. –> Oh no, it’s difficult, I never get up early, I don’t think it will happen, the event of getting up early is somewhere far away, like in my dreams that will never come true.
Keith Taylor
If students are having problems conceptualising the fact that second conditional is not talking about the past, I usually do it like this:
1. Write two sentences on the board:
It rains at the weekend
A tiger walks into this room
2. Ask the students if these sentences are talking about the past or the future.
3. Once you’ve established that we’re talking about the future, ask the students if these situations are likely or unlikely to happen. (If they’re unsure about the meaning of likely/unlikely, use “probably will happen/probably won’t happen”).
4. Now you should have established that both sentences are talking aout the future, and that the only difference is that the first one is likely, the second one unlikely. (You might want to use a different first sentence if you’re in the middle of summer in a dry country!! – as long as it’s likely to happen, any sentence will do)
5. Now ask the students to imagine what they will do in these situations (“stay at home”, “jump out the window” for example)
6. Now see if they can make a conditional sentence for each one.
“If it rains at the weekend I will stay at home”
“If a tiger walked into the room I would jump out the window”
The important thing is to keep reinforcing this:
– BOTH situations are possible
– BOTH situations are talking about the future
– The ONLY difference between the two sentences is that the first situation is likely to happen, the second one unlikely. (Of course this is a simplification, but remember what you’re trying to achieve – you’re not trying to teach all the nuances of the two forms, just the fact that the second conditional isn’t talking about the past).
I find that if this is reinforced constantly throughout the process, it sticks. You should then practise by giving students many possible situations about the future. Remind them only to think whether the situation is likely or unlikely, and to make a conditional sentence based on this.
Hope this helps, I find it works well!
Daniel
The easiest (and probably most used) example is the lottery…
Start off by asking students about the lotto in their country. You could even make the whole lesson themed around this, maybe with a text about the lottery to start off for some reading comprehension. (Do a search for “lottery” on the internet and you’ll find plenty of news stories about people who’ve won big).
Next, ask students what they would do if they won the lottery. Don’t worry about correct form in their answers at this stage – the important thing is that they get the gist of the question (I’m yet to meet a student who hasn’t understood the gist of “If you won the lottery, what would you do?”) Develop some of their answers, maybe making another question out of it: “Oh, so if you bought a new car, what kind of car would you buy?”
After a time, ask them if they think they are going to win the lottery in the future, or if it’s just imagination. Most, hopefully, will say it’s just imagination, it’s extremely unlikely they’ll ever win.
Now, highlight the form on the board, and then ask them some other examples:
“If you lived on Mars, what would you eat?” “If you were an animal, which animal would you be?” etc
This time, make sure they answer with the correct form.
Then, have them think of five questions to ask their partner. By making them form their own questions, you are making sure that they understand we’re talking about the future, and about hypothetical situations.
A board game with second conditional questions works well for some freer practice in groups.
Anonymous
Listen to the song “If I had a million dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies. It’s full of second conditional. Do a gap fill as you listen to it.
Virginia
When students have grasped the structure, it’s fun to play “Crazy Sentences”. In this game, the class is divided in two. Half write one part of the conditional sentence (the “if” part). The other half write the second part on separate slips of paper. You gather the slips (maintaining the groups) in two bags or hats. One by one each student takes a pair and reads aloud the “crazy sentence”. Some examples are:
“If I had a dog, I would give it to charity.”
If I travelled to Mars, I would buy twenty pairs of shoes.”
It brings lots of fun to the classroom and can be played using other grammar structures.
Clau
You can ask your students to do a questionnaire about funny (imaginary) situations and give them a,b,c options.
For example: If you knew your sister’s most important secret, would you…
a. tell everybody
b. keep it a secret
c. ask her for money to keep it a secret
Students like this kind of activity! Good luck!
Nevena
I use “Into My Arms” by Nick Cave. Hand out the lyrics with gaps in it for the students to fill in. Get them to listen to the song and go through the lyrics. They understand the conditional quickly because the song explains the unreality of the situation very well.
Larissa
You can use “If I were a boy” by Beyonce… it’s full of second conditional!
Sabrina Espino
If your class is a good level, a good song challenge is Gwen Stefani’s “If I were a rich girl” – erase all verbs and they can spend ten minutes predicting, then listening twice. I always include a few culture questions at the end too, like where is Harajuku and why are the girls famous? (if you don’t know, google image harajuku and you’ll get some great visuals to explain the answer). Also, good vocab like clean out, mansion, fancy…
Thea Eliz
Wow
Pieter Boonzaier MCIL
I start my lesson with a reading from Harry Potter. I then proceed to ask questions like:
What would you do:
if you were invisible?
if you could cast spells?
if you could fly?
if you had magical powers?
I end the lesson with students writing a composition about any of these fantasies.
Lubna Shaiq
I record other teachers answering the following question:
“what would you do if you won a lottery of one thousand million dollars?”
I play it in my class and ask them if they know who the speakers are. Then, I give them a hat full of 2nd conditional topics and ask them to pass it around while I play music. I then stop the music and ask them to pick a topic and speak about it. My students love this lesson!
David
I teach 2nd Conditional by explaining it as the “Aladdin Conditional”. Aladdin has a magic lamp with a genie in it, who can do anything in the present. So he rubs the lamp when he has a problem and the genie appears.
You can ask questions like:
“What would Aladdin do if he was rich?”
“He would buy Jasmine a new house.”
This sets up the 2nd conditional as being COUNTER-FACTIVE and UNLIKELY, but not IMPOSSIBLE (if you have a genie).
This explanation transitions very nicely to the 3rd conditional, where you can explain that not even a genie has the power to change the past. For that you need a TIME MACHINE. It works really well, and it is more memorable than using the number system of naming them.