Second Conditional - A2 Rules and Exercises

Exercises

Explanation

Second Conditional – talking about imaginary or unreal situations.

When Do We Use It?

We use the Second Conditional to:

Talk about dreams or wishes
Give advice
Imagine different situations in life
Express something that is possible but not very likely

Structure

Part	Formula	Example
If-clause	If + Past Simple	If I lived near the sea
Main clause	would + base verb	I would swim every day.

Full Example:
If I lived near the sea, I would swim every day.

We can also change the order of the sentence:

I would swim every day if I lived near the sea.

When the sentence starts with "if", use a comma after the if-clause.
When it starts with the main clause, no comma is needed.

Examples

If I had more free time, I would learn another language.
If it were sunny today, we would go for a walk.
If she studied harder, she would pass her exams.
If he were my teacher, I would be very happy.
If they didn’t live so far, we would visit them more often.

The Verb “to be”

In the Second Conditional, we use were with all subjects, even “I” and “he/she/it”.

Example:

If I were you, I would take the job.
If she were here, we would celebrate together.

Other Modal Verbs

Sometimes we can use could or might instead of would:

Modal	Meaning	Example
would	certain result	If I had more time, I would travel abroad.
could	ability	If I spoke French, I could live in Paris.
might	possibility	If it snowed tomorrow, we might make a snowman.

Negative Form

Add not after “would” or in the “if” part:

If I were rich, I wouldn’t work every day.
If he didn’t eat so much sugar, he would be healthier.
If we weren’t so busy, we would go to the park.

Question Form

We can ask questions with the Second Conditional in two ways:

If + Past Simple, would + subject + verb?

If you had a chance, would you move abroad?

Would + subject + verb, if + Past Simple?

Would you move abroad if you had a chance?

Both mean the same thing.

Even If

We use even if to show something is true no matter what.

Examples:

Even if I won the lottery, I wouldn’t change my life.
Even if it rained, we would still go to the park.

In Short

We use the Second Conditional to imagine things that are not real now, but we can dream or talk about them.
It’s great for expressing your wishes, advice, or “what if” ideas.

Examples:

If I had wings, I would fly around the world.
If I met my favorite singer, I would ask for a photo.
If it didn’t rain so much, our city would be sunnier!