Treynor, Iowa TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

This unit is about conditionals. These are sentences containing ‘If’ which refer to past, present and future possibilities. There are two clauses, the ‘If’ clause and the main clause, and either can come in the first part of a conditional sentence. We have five main conditionals; Zero condition- if+present +present tense. It is used in actions and facts that are irrefutable. Eg, if you boil water, you get steam. The second one is first conditional- if+present simple+will. It is used in real situation in the future that is possible, probable, or even certain, once the condition has been satisfied. Eg, I will go abroad if I study hard. Second conditional- if+past simple+would+base form. It is used to communicate a present or future ‘unreal’ hypothetical situation that is presently not true and is unlikely ever to be true. Eg, if I went, I would see them. Third conditional. - if+past perfect+would+have+past participle. Refers to a hypothetical past action and hypothetical past consequenses or result. Eg, If I had gone there, I would have seen them. Mixed condition. We sometimes combine a second conditional clause with a third conditional clause. If+past perfect+would+base form. This mix refers to a hypothetical past action or state and the hypothetical present consequence. Some of the teaching ideas are; split sentences, complete the conditional, etc. In addition to the above, this unit covers reported speech and direct speech. It covers the dynamics of this part. We see that when changing from direct speech to indirect speech, a lot changes. Eg the verbs, pronouns, time and question word. I have learnt the ‘golden rule’- to teach each category slowly and thoroughly