ESL Term:
Second Conditional
Back to ESL Resources | Back to Glossary
second conditional: This is an if/then statement about the consequence of an untrue, impossible, imaginary, or improbable future event or action.
If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would quit my job. (improbable)
If I were invisible, I would play jokes on my friends. (imaginary)
If had a dollar for every time I heard that, I'd be rich. (untrue)
If +past tense, then + would + present tense.
The second conditional describes the consequence of an impossible or improbable if clause. This can be contrasted with the first conditional which describes the consequence of a possible or probable if clause.
Note: just by choosing to use the first or second conditonal you are making a statement about how likely you think an event is.
If it snows tomorrow, we'll be stranded.
If it snowed tomorrow, we would be stranded.
In the first conditional sentence, I think there is at least some chance that it will snow, at least enough to worry about. But in the second I think it is really unlikely to snow, and I am not even worried about it.
For another explanation of first and second conditionals please refer to english-net.com.
For more discussion of conditionals in this glossary see: