The second conditional can be tricky to get right. This concise guide will provide you with a quick overview of the most important and challenging grammatical points of the II conditional type.
Formation and Structure
The second conditional, also known as the unreal conditional, is a structure used to express unreal or unlikely situations in the present or the future. The conditional sentence usually consists of two parts: the if-clause, which indicates the condition using the past tense, and the main clause, which expresses the hypothetical outcome using a modal verb plus the infinitive.
This is the general structure of the second conditional:
| if-clause | main clause |
| If + Past Simple/Past Continuous, | would/could/might + infinitive |
| If I had a million dollars, | I would travel around the world. |
| If we had money, | we might be able to travel more. |
| If you were rich, | you could buy a house. |
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Use
The second conditional can be used in a wide range of situations, which typically include:
1) Hypothetical situations
If I saw a dragon, I would run away.
If I had a million dollars, I would travel around the world.
2) Giving advice
If I were you, I wouldn’t travel to that country.
3) Asking hypothetical questions
What would you do if you had to quit your job?
Punctuation
One can use an if-clause at the beginning or the end of a sentence. When an if-clause comes first, it must be separated by a comma.
If I went abroad, I would miss seeing my friends.
Here’s an example of an if-clause at the end of the sentence.
He could buy his own house if he had a million dollars.
‘To Be’ Verb
In the second conditional, the past form of the ‘to be’ verb is always were.
| I/he/she/it | you/we/they | |
| Indicative mood | was | were |
| Second conditional | were | were |
It might seem counterintuitive, but saying, “If I was you, I wouldn’t travel to that country” is, in fact, wrong. Instead, say, “If I were you, I wouldn’t travel to that country.”
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