1. True in The Present / Future Time
if + Simple
Present, will-Future
Example: If I find her address, I will send her an
invitation .
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the
sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I will send her an invitation if I find her
address .
The function is to show / explain plan, advice, and
possibility / probability
For example
• If you don't have breakfast, you will be hungry.
• If the magazine is on my table, you can take it.
• If you come early you will not get punish from our
headmaster.
Ø Use
Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. An
action in the future will only happen if a certain condition is fulfilled by
that time. We don't know for sure whether the condition actually will be
fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather realistic – so we think it is
likely to happen.
Example: If I find her address, I'll send her an
invitation.
I want to send an invitation to a friend. I just have
to find her address. I am quite sure, however, that I will find it.
Example: If John has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.
I know John very well and I know that he earns a lot
of money and that he loves Ferraris. So I think it is very likely that sooner
or later he will have the money to buy a Ferrari.
2. Untrue in the Present / Future Time
if + Simple
Past, main clause with Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)
Example: If I found her address, I would send her an
invitation .
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the
sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I would send her an invitation if I found her
address .
Were instead of Was
In IF Clauses Type II, we usually use ‚were‘ – even if
the pronoun is I , he , she or it –.
Example: If I were you, I would not do this .
The function of conditional sentence type two is to
explain our imagination.
For Example
• If the price of gasoline were only Rp. 1000 I would
be very happy.
• What would you do if you found $100.00 on the street.
• If I had a lot of money, I wouldn't stay here.
Ø Use
Conditional Sentences Type II refer to situations in
the present. An action could happen if the present situation were different. I
don't really expect the situation to change, however. I just imagine „what
would happen if …“
Example: If I found her address, I would send her an
invitation .
I would like to send an invitation to a friend. I have
looked everywhere for her address, but I cannot find it. So now I think it is
rather unlikely that I will eventually find her address.
Example: If John had the money, he would buy a Ferrari
.
I know John very well and I know that he doesn't have
much money, but he loves Ferraris. He would like to own a Ferrari (in his
dreams). But I think it is very unlikely that he will have the money to buy one
in the near future.
3. Untrue In the Past Time
if + Past
Perfect, main clause with Conditional II
Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent
her an invitation .
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the
sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.
Example: I would have sent her an invitation if I had
found her address .
Ø Use
Conditional Sentences Type III refer to situations in
the past. An action could have happened in the past if a certain condition had
been fulfilled. Things were different then, however. We just imagine, what
would have happened if the situation had been fulfilled.
Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent
her an invitation .
Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation
to a friend. I didn't find her address, however. So in the end I didn't send
her an invitation.
Example: If John had had the money, he would have
bought a Ferrari .
I knew John very well and I know that he never had
much money, but he loved Ferraris. He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he
never had the money to buy one.
