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Conditionals and reported speech Conditionals These are setences containing "if" (or similar expressions such as 'when') 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. For example: If I had the money, I would buy a new car; I would buy a new car, if I had the money. The 'if' clause contains the condition that has to be satisfied before the action or state in the main clause can be realised. We can also think of the main clause as expressing the consequence. In the above example the condition of my having enough money has to be satisfied before I can buy a new car. My buying a new car is the consequence. The five main conditionals are as follows: Zero Conditional Form if/when=present tense, present tense Usage It refers to actions and facts that are irrefutable. You can use 'if' or 'when' with no change in meaning. When you boil water, you get steam. (Condition: boiled water; consequence: steam) Water turns to ice if you freeze it. (Condition: freeze water; consequence: ice) First conditional Form if+present simple, will (wiil can be replaced by a modal verb. E.g. may, might, can, should, must) Usage This talks about a 'real' situation in the future that is possible, probable or even certain, once the condition has been satisfied. If he studies hard, he will pas the exam. (Condition: hard study; certain consequence: passing the exam) She might buy it if she has enough money. (condition: having enough money; possible consequence: buying it) Second Conditional Form if+past simple, would/could/might+base form (When the verb 'to be' is used in the if clause it can be 'If i was' or 'If i were'. The latter is more formal.) Usage Communicates a present or future 'unreal', hypothetical situation that is presently not true and is unlikely ever to be true. If I won the lottery, I would travel the world. If I had a time machine, I would go back to the dark ages. Third Conditional Form if+past perfect, would/could/might+have+past participle. Usage Refers to a hypothetical past action (or non-action) and the hypothetical past consequence/result. As the 'action' was purely hypothetical, the condition could never have been satisfied, and subsequently the consequence is or was impossible. If i had practiced the piano, I would have been better. (but I didn't practice the piano!) She would have been angry if she had seen me. (but she didn't see me!) Mixed Conditional We sometimes combine a second conditional with a third conditional clause. This is most commonly formed as follows: If+past perfect, would+base form If i had listened to him, I would be in serious trouble now. (I didn't listen to him, so I'm not in trouble!) This mix refers to a hypothetical past action or state, and the hypothetical present consequence. Many other mixes, though not so common, are possible. Typical mistakes/errors consider the problems that may arise from past tenses being used in the second conditional when it refers to the future (as it always does) along with the complex structures and you have the basis for endless mistakes with conditionals. Many students find it quite difficult to see the difference in usage between the 1st and 2nd conditionals. Similar problems can arise with 3rd and mixed conditionals. Teaching Ideas Split sentences and cut them in half. Mix them up so that students have to put them back together again. .If you touch that dog you'll be sick. .If you don't water the plants it will bite you. .If you eat that they'll die. Complete the conditional .Give students half a conditional and instruct them to complete it with their own ideas. For example: .If I won the lottery,........ .If I could live in any country,........ .........,I would be very happy. .........,I would be very angry. Chain conditionals .Students take it in turns to continue a conditional sentence. For example: .If I am ill tomorrow, I will stay home. .If I stay home, I will watch TV. .If I watch TV, I will become brain dead. .If I become brain dead, I will be very boring. What a question! .Give students moral dilemmas in conditional form to discuss. E.g. Would you be willing to murder an innocent person if it would end world hunger? Nuclear bunker role-play .There is going to be a nuclear war but there is only room for one more person. Each student is assigned a role, e.g. doctor, politician, actress, teacher, architect, scientist. They must persuade a judge that they are the best candidate for the last place in the bunker. If I live, I will discover a cure for cancer. What would happen if....? .In groups students respond to different second conditional sentences. .What would happen if everyone were color blind. .What would happen if we could read each others thoughts? .What would happen if everyone were five meters tall? .They must then predict how the other group answered. Note that this teaching idea also works very well for first conditionals, too. Reported speech and direct speech What are they? Look at these sentences-a transcript of a telephone conversation between Phil and Ken, with Jim an anxious listener: Phil "How are you feeling after last night, Ken?" Ken "I'm feeling great today!" Jim "What's he saying?" Phil "Ken says that he's feeling great today!" All the sentences are actual speech-or direct speech. But in Phil's sentence addressed to Jim he reports what Ken has just told him (shown in italics). Phil decides to report in the present tense-"Ken says that...."Consequently the tense of the speech he reports is in the present. He repeats the exact words used by Ken, except for the initial I'm which he is obliged to change into he's, i.e. with the meaning "Ken says Ken is....". He has also added the word that, which is optional. Now look at the conversation between Jim and Phil if it had been two hours after the phone call. Jim "What did Ken say on the phone?" Phil "Ken said (that) he was feeling great!" Alternatively "Ken told me (that) he was feeling great!" Phil is now obliged to report in the past tense since the phone call is over. Hence he starts "Ken said...." Phil has still changed Ken's I to he, but he is now obliged to change the tense of the verb used by Ken into past form-present continuous into past continuous. Hence "....he was feeling...." When we turn direct speech into reported (also known as indirect) speech, the following changes also take place: The question word (when, where, why, who, what, how etc.) remains but the form of the verb changes into the positive form, the question mark being omitted in reported questions. The verb say changes into ask, enquire.... etc, and the tense of the speech reported is the same as that of the reported verb. for example: Phil's question above was "How are you felling after last night, Ken?" If somebody was reporting this, it would therefore become Phil asked how Ken was feeling. If there is no question word, if or whether must be used: "Is anyone there?" he asked. becomes he asked if/whether anyone was there. Note that there are never a question marks in repeated speech as we are not quoting the exact words spoken. Direct speech to reported speech Present simple > Past simple Present continuous > Past continuous Present perfect > Past perfect Present perfect continuous > Past perfect continuous Past simple > Past perfect Past continuous > Past perfect continuous Will > Would Past perfect > Past perfect Past perfect continuous > Past perfect continuous Note: There's an exception to most rules! An example would be a structure such as He said that the sky is black today, or He told me that the rents are lower outside the city centre, and other such instances when the fact being reported is still true. Pronouns You also should have noticed that the pronoun denoting who is spoken to can also change, very much depending on the context. For example,take one simple sentence: "I love you," she said. can become she said she loved me. (she was talking to me) "I love you," she said. can become She said she loved you. (she was talking to you) "I love you," she said. can become She said she loved him. (she was talking to him) "I love you," she said. can become She said she loved her. (she was talking to her) "I love you," she said. can become She said she loved it. (she was talking to her dog) "I love you," she said. can become She said she loved us. (she was talking to both you and me) "I love you," she said. can become She said she loved them. (she was talking to both of them) You probably get the impression that events and 'things' take a step backwards, both in time and physical position. In general, present becomes past (this is sometimes referred to as backshifting), and 'this' and 'here' become 'that' and 'there'. Time expressions These are also modified if backshifting. For example, 'today' becomes 'that day' tomorrow becomes 'the next day' or 'the day after' etc. These changes need to be taught as students progress through the levels. But the 'golden rule' with all the different categories is to take each one at a time and to do it slowly and thoroughly. Potential for student mistakes/errors The potential for mistakes, errors and general difficulty is enormous due to the number of changes that are made with verb tenses, patterns, pronouns, questions, time expressions, etc. So, as stated before, 'slowly, slowly!' Teaching ideas Intermediaries In groups of three one person says a sentence which is then 'reported' to a third. For example, a role-play where the husband and wife have stopped speaking and will communicate only through a third party. The same idea can be used for employer/employee disputes, parent/teenager, quarrelling neighbors, warring countries, etc. Reporting verbs Higher levels could be first asked to make a list of as many verbs as possible that can replace the 'reporting' verb, i.e. 'say'. You then check that it contains all the necessary for the following: Each group or pair is given a collection of direct speech sentences. Then choose an appropriate reporting verb, and next alter the sentence accordingly. For example, your list of reporting verbs may include 'to claim', 'to deny' and 'to admit'. A direct speech sentence might go as follows: "Okay, I did it-it ws me!" Hopefully your students choose 'to admit' and then write or say the following: He admitted that he had done it. You'll probably want to point out to higher level students that we could also say he admitted doing it. Media interviews Media interviews often report third parties speech and students can devise their own based on current events.