ESL Term:

First Conditional

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first conditional:  This is an if/then statement about the consequence of a possible or probable future event or action.

                   If you build it, they will come.

                   If she tries, she might succeed.

                   If he touches my beer, I'm going to kill him.

If + present tense sentence, then + future tense sentence.

The first conditional describes the consequence of a possible if clause. This can be contrasted with the second conditional which describes the consequence of an unlikely, improbable, or imaginary if clause.

For more discussion of conditionals in this glossary see:

                                    zero conditional

                                    second conditional

                                    third conditional