The First Conditional Sentences

Hello everyone,

Today we are doing an English grammar lesson.

The subject is first conditionals.

Let’s start. First, conditional sentences describe real future events that are very possible. OK, let me give you an example of a conversation.

Andrew says. I’m going to a party in London tonight.

Mark says hurry up, the bus leaves soon.

And Andrew says if I miss the bus, I’ll take the train.

So, this is the first conditional. OK, if I miss the bus, I’ll take the train. And it is made-up of two parts. The first part is the condition.

Here it is if I miss the bus. And then there is the result. I’ll take the train. So, the first condition, the first conditional is if this condition is true. Then this will happen. OK. And it’s in the future?

So, if this condition is true in the future. Then this will happen in the future.

OK, and so the first conditional, it describes a specific future event. In this case, it’s a specific causeway we are talking about.

If I miss the bus in the future, it’s talking about me. And if I miss the bus, perhaps tonight. And then I’ll take the train tonight. It’s specific to me. And so we are not describing.

A general fact or simply a regular action? That is not what we are describing. It’s specific.

The form.

Condition: Present simple tense
Result: Future simple tense (will + base form of the verb)

For example:

• If it rains, I will take an umbrella.
• If she calls me, I will answer the phone.
• If you need help, I will be there for you.

There are two choices for the form. First choice if + condition and result.

Here we have the if condition and then the result.

And when we are writing the first conditional. There is a comma here, so after the condition. And before the result.

And the second choice is we can reverse the order. We can change the order; we can have the results 1st and then the if condition.

So the same example in the different order. I’ll call you if I’m late. And we do not use a comma.

Verb tenses.

This is very important we have. Two or three choices of the verb tense that we can use. But here is the most common verb tense. So I’ve got a question for you.

What tenses are the verbs in the two examples? If I miss the bus, I will take the train. So I’m asking you, what is this tense? And what is this tense?

If I’m late, I’ll call you. So what is this tense? This is contracted form of I am. And what is this tense? I’ll call you. This is the contracted form of I will call.

Well, the condition. Takes the present simple this part before the comma. This is the present simple. And the result is the future simple I will take. I’ll call it’s a future simple.

Well, this is the most common form, the most common. Structure of verb tenses for the first conditional. Be careful. The condition.

So this part the condition does not take the future simple form. This is a very common mistake by English learners. So for example. This is wrong.

If I will miss the bus, I will take the train. This is wrong because this is the future simple. So that is wrong. Now it is correct. And very important.

We use the present simple tense (like “I miss”) to talk about a future event, such as missing the bus tonight or tomorrow.

OK, so we are using the present simple form. But to refer to the future?

And the result is always in the future. Simple. This is less common, but it still exists. We can also use the present simple.

When we talk about a condition using ‘if’ and the result using ‘going to,’ we use the base form of the verb. For example:

• If I see her, I’m going to invite her to the party.
• If you don’t study, you’re going to fail the exam.”

This ‘going to’ structure is a bit stronger than using the simple future tense.

When we use going to. We are emphasizing the results. We are concentrating more on the results. And so going to therefore describes a strong intention or a plan for the future.

OK, so we are we are surer we have decided that. This is what we are going to do.

If the condition is true, of course, the condition must be true, and if it is true, then this is our strong intention. And we can also use the present simply followed by a modal for the result.

This is slightly more advanced. This is quite advanced English. For the result, we can also use certain models.

If you do your homework, you may watch television. So this is the modal may. And you see it’s followed by the base form of the verb. And the meaning of this well, we use may in the first conditional to give permission in the future.

OK, so we’re giving permission to somebody to watch television. If the person does the homework. But be careful, May is quite formal. It’s actually quite rare in modern English.

OK, but it is correct. If you eat your vegetables, you can play in the garden. And this is the same meaning as may.

It’s the same meaning, so we can use it in the first conditional to give permission in the future. But be careful, however “Can” is more informal. And in fact, it is more common in standard English.

And you will hear this, you will hear can much more than may when we want to give permission.

OK. And finally, another example of models. If you feel ill, you should rest. If you feel ill, you should rest. And here in the first conditional we use should.

In the first conditional. To give advice in the future. OK, so we are advising this person to rest. So we are telling them, we are telling this person.

The correct thing to do. If you’re ill. If you feel ill. I advise you to rest. That is the meaning of you should rest. And don’t forget because this is the first conditional.

This is a specific situation. We are not talking in general about everybody. We are telling this person here that if you feel ill.

Then in the future, like this evening or now or tomorrow, then you should rest. OK, specific. We are not talking about general advice for everybody when they are ill.

Let’s quickly compare first conditional with 0 conditional because often people get confused. So what is the difference in meaning between these two sentences?

If you drink too much soda, you get fat. So, this is the 0 conditional.

You get fat. And this is the second sentence. If you drink too much soda. You’ll get fat. And this is the first conditional. This is what we have seen in today’s lesson.

The future simple you will get fat. You can see these sentences; they look very similar. And it is just this. Word in fact, which is different. But the meaning is very different.

Difference between Zero conditional and First conditional

The zero conditional talks about things that are always true or generally true, like facts. We use it when we believe something is always true in a certain situation.

Example of zero conditional: “If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it boils.”

The first conditional talks about things that are likely to happen in the future. We use it when there’s a real possibility of something happening based on a condition.

Example of first conditional: “If it rains, I will take an umbrella.”

In simple terms, zero conditional is for facts, and first conditional is for real possibilities in the future.

First conditional sentences:

 

If it rains tomorrow, I will bring an umbrella.

If you study hard, you will pass the exam.

If she calls me, I will answer immediately.

If we leave now, we will catch the bus.

If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it will boil.

If they finish their work early, they can go to the movies.

If he practices guitar every day, he will become a great musician.

If I save enough money, I will buy a new car.

If you eat too much junk food, you will gain weight.

If the weather is nice on Saturday, we will have a picnic in the park.

 

First conditional sentences: