Learning English

Rob           
Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Rob.

Catherine    
And me, Catherine. Hello. This programme is all about the second conditional.

Rob
Yes the second conditional. We’ll see how to form it…

Catherine
We’ll look at why and when we use it…     

Rob                
There’ll be a very helpful pronunciation tip…

Catherine    
And there’ll be a second conditional quiz at the end of the show, so listen carefully!

Rob                
Let’s start by looking at why and when we use the second conditional. The main use of the second conditional is to talk about impossible, unlikely or imaginary situations. And here’s an example to do with football. Catherine, are you a football fan? 

Catherine
Err… I like to watch the big games, the internationals, the England games in particular – I do like an England game.

Rob
Yes, they haven’t won for a long time…

Catherine
Not since ’66, I think…

Rob
’66 was a long time ago, but maybe they’ll win one day…

Catherine
Maybe!

Rob
But at the moment it’s just a dream; not a strong possibility. So Mike’s here: let’s have a second conditional sentence about that situation Mike:

Mike            
If England won the World Cup, Catherine would be so happy.

Rob                
If England won the World Cup, Catherine would be so happy. Catherine, is that true?

Catherine    
It is, actually, I’d be very happy. Unlikely, but, I’d be happy. So: this is a second conditional sentence and it is made of two parts. The first part starts with the word if, plus a subject and a past simple verb, and it describes an unlikely or imaginary situation, like this:

Mike  
If England won the World Cup…

Catherine   
Thanks Mike. And the second part of the sentence has the word would or the negative woudn’t with an infinitive verb. It describes a possible result of the unlikely or imaginary situation.

Mike  
…Catherine would be so happy.

Rob                
That’s the result of the imaginary situation. And yes, If England won the World Cup, we would be very happy, wouldn’t we, Catherine?

Catherine    
We would!

Rob               
Good. Now, we can change the order of the two parts, and the meaning stays the same:

Mike              
We’d be so happy if England won the World Cup.

Catherine    
Right, thanks Mike. Let’s have some more examples.

Mike
If Sunny had more money, he’d get a better phone.

I wouldn’t see you very often if I lived in the city.

Maria would have a better job if she spoke more English.   

If I were you, I’d take a holiday.

Rob                
Thanks: lots of examples there. And the last one is particularly interesting: If I were you, I’d take a holiday. And of course this isn’t a real situation, because I can’t be you, can I? 

Catherine    
You can’t be anybody Rob, except yourself, just you: we’re stuck with you.

Rob               
You’re stuck with me, yes: I’m afraid so. Anyway, we say a second conditional sentence starting with the words If I were you when we want to give someone some advice. And here the advice is to go on holiday.

Catherine   
It’s interesting that a lot of native speakers say If I were you, not if I was you.

Rob               
And if I were you, I’d go somewhere nice and hot with palm trees and sandy beaches. Mmm.

IDENT          
6 Minute Grammar, from BBC Learning English.

Rob               
And we’re talking about second conditionals.

Catherine   
Now for a word about pronunciation. Contractions or short forms – are very common in second conditionals – but they can sometimes be difficult to hear.

Rob               
Yes, that’s a good point. In the last example, the two words I and would become I’d. I’d take a holiday.

Catherine   
So would is shortened to just a /d/ sound. Listen out for the short /d/ sound in this next example:

Mike              
If I knew the answer, I’d tell you.

Catherine    
Yes, the phrase I would tell becomes I’d tell. One more time please Mike:

Mike              
If I knew the answer, I’d tell you.

Rob               
Well, wherever you are, I hope you know the answers to the quiz. It’s coming up next!

Catherine    
Yes, it’s quiz time! Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap. Here’s the first one. If you [beep] some money on the street, what would you do? Is the missing word a) find b) found or c) would find?

Rob               
And the answer is b): If you found £50 on the street, what would you do?

Catherine   
Another one: If you forgot your wife’s birthday what [beep] she do? Is it a) does, b) will or c) would?

Rob               
So the answer is c): If you forgot your wife’s birthday what would she do? I wonder what she’d do…

Catherine   
And the last one: I wouldn’t eat that if I [beep] you. Is it a) am b) were or c) be?

Rob                
And its b): I wouldn’t eat that if I were you. Well done if you got all those right.

So we’ve been talking about the second conditional. It’s made of if plus the past simple tense, and would plus the infinitive. We use it to talk about imaginary situations and their results.

Catherine   
There’s more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again soon for more 6 Minute Grammar.

Both
Bye.