Existen varios tipos de frases condicionales. Aquí va un resumen.
| CONDITIONAL 0 If I drink coffee I don’t sleep. If I listen to music I feel more relaxed. If people use public transport they pollute less. USAGE: To say that B always happens if A. You don’t sleep (=B) if you drink coffee (=A). In these sentences «if» can be replaced by «when». ################## |
| CONDITIONAL I If I study harder I will pass my exam. If I stay home I will watch a film. If I don’t phone him for his birthday he will be angry. USAGE: B will probably happen if you do A. If you study harder (=A), you will probably pass your exam. ################## |
| CONDITIONAL II If we had a garden we would play football outside. If she lost her key she would call her grandma. If it started to rain we would take a taxi. USAGE: It is not likely that A is true (no es muy probable). If we had a garden (but we don’t have a garden and you don’t think you will ever have one), then (solo si tuvieras un jardin, pero es poco probable que tengas uno), you would play football outside. ################## |
| CONDITIONAL III If I had known the answer, I would have told the teacher. If we had won the game, we would have been famous. If the teacher hadn’t explained the conditionals, we wouldn’t have passed the test. USAGE: This situation is completely impossible. I didn’t know the answer, but, if I had known (but it is impossible now, it is too late) I would have told the teacher. ################## |