Modal auxiliaries

The Second Conditional

✓ We use the second conditional to talk about less likely or imagined situations in the present or future:

If I played the guitar, I would join a rock band✓ If we all wore the same clothes, the world would be very boring.

✓ There are two clauses. The if clause is the condition and the other is the possible result of that condition. The ifclause can come first or second:

Condition Result

If+ past simple, would+ infinitive

✓ Even though we use a past tense, the meaning is not past:I´d look terrible if I dyed my hair blond. (Talking about the present)

What would you do if your boss quit his job? (Asking about the future)

The Second Conditionalvs. the first conditional

✓ Although we use both the first and second conditionals to talk about the future, the meaning of each is different. We use the first conditional for real or likelysituations, and the second conditional for less likely or imagined situations:

If I have time, I´ll call you at lunchtime.

The speaker thinks there is a real possibility that hewill have time, so he uses the

First conditional: If +present simple, will+ infinitive.

If I found $100 on the street, I´d keep it.

In this example, thespeaker is not talking about a real possibility ---- she is

Imagining a situation. It is in likely that she will find $100 so she uses the second

Conditional: If +past simple,would + infinitive

Expressing wishes

✓ We use wish to say that something is not the way we would like it to be.

|Affirmative |Iwish I could play the piano. (I can´t play the piano). |
|Negative |I wish it didn´t rain so much in England.(It rains...