Conditional Tenses
Sentences with "if". Six patterns, and a simple way to choose the right one.
People are scared of conditionals because of the names: "type 0, type 1, type 2…". Forget the numbers for a moment. Every if sentence is answering one question: how real is this?
if වාක්යයක කොටස් දෙකක් තියෙනවා: කොන්දේසිය (if clause) සහ ප්රතිඵලය (main clause). ඒක ඇත්තටම වෙන්න පුළුවන් දෙයක්ද, නැත්නම් හිතලා බලන දෙයක්ද, ඒක අතීතයද වර්තමානයද කියන එක අනුව තමයි අපි tense එක තෝරන්නේ.
Which one do I need?
| Ask yourself | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Is it always true? | Type 0 | If you heat ice, it melts. |
| Is it a real chance in the future? | Type 1 | If it rains, we'll stay home. |
| Is it imaginary (now or future)? | Type 2 | If I won the lottery, I'd buy a house. |
| Is it about a past you can't change? | Type 3 | If I'd left earlier, I wouldn't have missed the bus. |
| A different past → a different now? | Type 4 | If I'd studied IT, I'd be a developer now. |
| A different now → a different past? | Type 5 | If I weren't so shy, I'd have spoken to her. |
Types 0 to 3 are the ones you'll use every day. Types 4 and 5 are mixed: half of one, half of another. Learn them last.
The patterns at a glance
| Type | if part | main part |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | simple present | simple present |
| 1 | simple present | will + V1 |
| 2 | simple past | would + V1 |
| 3 | past perfect (had + V3) | would have + V3 |
| 4 | past perfect (had + V3) | would + V1 |
| 5 | simple past | would have + V3 |
Two things that are true for all of them
1. You can swap the two parts. The meaning stays the same. When the if part comes first, put a comma after it.
Same meaning
- If it rains, we'll stay home.
- We'll stay home if it rains.
2. will and would don't go in the if part.
unless = if … not. I won't go unless you come = I won't go if you don't come.