Present and Past Unreal Conditionals

Unreal conditionals are used to talk about situations that are improbable, imaginary, or past events that never occurred.

Second conditional is used to talk about situations in the future that have a probable or improbable chance of happening (10% chance).  For example if I say: If I would go to Rome, I could have an audience with the Pope.  There is a probability that I could go to Rome, but an audience with the Pope is highly improbable, but not impossible, it could happen.

Second Conditional

Format

	Condition	Result clause
	past conditional	would + base form of the verb
If	I went to Rome	I would have an audience with the Pope.
If	I had a million dollar salary	I would buy a Mansion in New York.

You can also start with the result clause

Result clause		Condition
would + base form of the verb		past conditional
I would have an audience with the Pope.	If	I went to Rome
I would buy a Mansion in New York.	If	I had a million dollar salary

Third conditional is used to talk about situations in the past that have 0% probability of happening, because they depend on a condition in the past changing and that can't happen.


Third Conditional

Format

	Condition	Result clause
	past perfect	would + past participle
If	I had gone to Rome	I would have had an audience with the Pope.
If	I had had a million dollar salary	I would have bought a Mansion in New York.

or 

Result clause		Condition
would + past participle		past perfect
I would have had an audience with the Pope.	If	I had gone to Rome
I would have bought a Mansion in New York.	If	I had had a million dollar salary

Conditionals-English Club

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Embedded Questions Unit 10

An embedded question is a question that is part of another sentence. It can appear in a declarative sentence or a question.

Direct Questions		Embedded Questions
Where is the museum?		Could you tell me where the museum is?
Why was the train delayed?		Do you know why the train was delayed?
Why are the children screaming?		I don’t know why the children are screaming.

These expressions are used to introduce embedded questions:

I was wondering…

The question is…

Who knows…

I’d like to know…

I’m not sure why…

It’s not clear…

Can you remember

Uses for embedded questions:

To ask for information politely

Direct Questions		Embedded Questions
What time is the show?		Can you tell me what time the show is?

Speaking about something the speaker doesn't know.

Direct Question		Embedded Questions
Why did the girl start to cry?		I was wondering why the girl started to cry?

More Information about Embedded Questions

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Gerunds and Infinitives Videos

Watch these videos to review the use of gerunds and infinitives

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English Modals of Speculation

Unit 5

Modals of speculation about the past from carlavick20

Present and Past Modals of Deduction with Sherlock Holmes from David Mainwood

Extra Exercises
Modals of Speculation about the Past

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Unit 1 - Simple Past vs. Present Perfect

Grammar- Simple past and present perfect


The simple past is used to talk about actions that began and ended in the past.

My mother was a teacher for five years.

The present perfect is used for actions that began in the past and continue in the present.

My mother has been a teacher for ten years.  For the past five years she has worked as a primary teacher.

Additional Resources

 Present Perfect

English Grammar Online

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Unit 4 English - Modal and phrasal modals

Modals and phrasal modals

Could is used to say that someone was able to do something in general at any time:

She could read music by the time she was three.

Was/were able to is used to indicate someone managed to do something once:

He was able to finish the race in under an hour.

May and can  are often used to give permission.  There is no past form of may for giving permission.

You may use your dictionaries to complete this exercise.
You may / You're allowed to park here after 7 pm

Must is used to express an obligation or sense of urgency.  Have to is more commonly used to express necessity, especially when spekain in the past tense.

It's not safe here.  Everyone must leave the building immediately.
At the lecture last night, I had to show my identification card to enter the building.

Should have is used to show regret about the past:
I should've gone to Hawaii when I had the chance.


Additional Resources

Great Powerpoint Presentation on Modals and phrasal modals

Modals from GeorgeKnapman

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Unit 3 English - Adverb Clauses

Adverb clauses of purpose, contrast and time


Adverb clauses answer the questions, why, when, how, or where something happened:

I left the party early because I wasn't feeling well.

Adverb clauses with because, since, and so that answer the question why:

I can't go out tonight because / since I have a lot of homework.

Adverb clauses with when or whenever answer the question when:

When (ever) I have to speak in front of the class, I get nervous.

Adverb clauses with though, although, and even though are used to introduce a different or surprising idea:

Although / Even though / Though the cell phone was expensive, I bought it anyway.

Additional Resources

The Adverb Clause from Woodward Academy

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Unit 2 English - Passive Voice

In a passive sentence, the object of an active sentence becomes the subject:

ACTIVE: Willem Kolff invented the fist artificial heart.

PASSIVE: The first artificial heart was invented by Willem Kolff.

Tense	Active Voice	Passive Voice
Present	People in Morocco speak Arabic and French.	Arabic and French are spoken in Morocco.
Present continuous	They're building a new library on Campus,	A new library is being built on campus.
Present perfect	the airlines have cancelled all flights due to bad weather.	All flights have been cancelled due to bad weather.
Past	The police arrested twenty people at yesterday's demonstration.	Twenty people were arrested at yesterday's demonstration.
Future with will	The embassy will mail your visa to you.	Your visa will be mailed to you.

Additional Resources:

English Club - Passive Voice

English Page - Passive Voice

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