Conditionals, Modal Verbs & Phrasal Verbs

• Conditionals

If I see her, I will tell her.

There are several structures in English that we call conditionals or if conditionals. The word "condition" means "situation or circumstance". If a particular condition is true, then a particular result happens:

• if y = 3 then 2y = 6

There are three basic English conditionals plus the so-called zero conditional. There are some more conditionals that we do not use so often.

conditional type	usage	if-clause	main-clause
1	possible condition + probable result	present simple	will + base verb
2	hypothetical condition + possible result	past simple	would + base verb
3	expired past condition + possible past result	past perfect	would have + past participle
0	real condition + inevitable result	present simple	present simple

Structure of Conditional Sentences

The structure of most conditionals is very simple. There are two basic possibilities.
Of course, we add many words and can use various tenses, but the basic structure is usually like this:

if	condition	result
if	y = 10	2y = 20

or like this:

result	if	condition
2y = 20	if	y = 10

This structure can produce, for example, the following sentences:

• If I see her, I will tell her.
• I will tell her if I see her.

Notice the comma in the first sentence. (A comma is always correct in this case, but not always essential if the sentence is short.) In the second sentence we do not normally use a comma.

First Conditional

for real possibility

If I win the lottery, I will buy a car.

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?

if	condition	result
	Present Simple	will + base verb
If	it rains,	I will stay at home.

Second Conditional

for unreal possibility

If I won the lottery, I would buy a car.

The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still thinking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, you do not have a lottery ticket. Is it possible to win? No! No lottery ticket, no win! But maybe you will buy a lottery ticket in the future. So you can think about winning in the future, like a dream. It's not very real, but it's still possible.

if	condition	result
	Past Simple	would + base verb
If	I won the lottery,	I would buy a car.

Third Conditional

for no possibility

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.

Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(

if	condition	result
	Past Perfect	would have + past participle
If	I had won the lottery,	I would have bought a car.

Zero Conditional

for certainty

If you heat ice, it melts.

We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the condition is always true, like a scientific fact.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What happens? The ice melts (it becomes water). You would be surprised if it did not.

if	condition	result
	Present Simple	Present Simple
If	you heat ice,	it melts.

Summary of Conditionals

Here is a table to help you to visualize the basic conditionals.

Do not take the 50% and 10% too literally. They are just to help you.

probability, conditional		example	time
100%	zero	If you heat ice, it melts.	any
50%	1st	If I win the lottery, I will buy a car.	future
10%	2nd	If I won the lottery, I would buy a car.	future
0%	3rd	If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.	past

People sometimes call conditionals "if structures" or "if sentences" because there is usually (but not always) the word if in a conditional sentence.

• Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs (also known as "helping verbs"). Normally modal verbs cannot work alone and must work with a main verb. The so-called "semi-modals" work partly like modals and partly like main verbs.
Modals:

• can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might
• must, ought (to)

can, could, be able to
can and could are modal auxiliary verbs. Be able to is not an auxiliary verb (it uses the verb be as a main verb). We include be able to here for convenience.
have to, must
must is a modal auxiliary verb. Have to is not an auxiliary verb (it uses the verb have as a main verb). We include have to here for convenience.
shall versus will
People sometimes say that there is no difference between shall and will, or even that today nobody uses shall (except in offers such as Shall I call a taxi?). They say the same thing about should, but it's not really true.
would
We use the modal auxiliary verb would mainly to talk about the past, talk about the future in the past and express the conditional mood.
should
We use the modal auxiliary verb should mainly to give advice or make recommendations, talk about obligation or talk about probability and expectation.

• Phrasal Verbs

What are Phrasal Verbs?

A phrasal verb is a verb like pick up, turn on or get on with. These verbs consists of a basic verb + another word or words. The two or three words that make up a phrasal verb form a short "phrase" - which is why we call them "phrasal verbs". But a phrasal verb is still a verb. Look is a verb. Look up is also a verb - a different verb. They do not have the same meaning, and they behave differently grammatically. You should treat each phrasal verb as a separate verb, and learn it like any other verb. Look at these examples. You can see that there are three types of phrasal verb formed from a single-word verb:

		verb	definition	example
single-word verb		look	direct your eyes in a certain direction	You must look before you leap.
phrasal verb	verb + adverb	look up	search for and find information in a reference book	You can look up the word in a dictionary.
	verb + preposition	look after	take care of	Who is looking after the baby?
	verb + adverb + preposition	look forward to	anticipate with pleasure	I look forward to meeting you.

Phrasal Verb: VERB + ADVERB

The structure of this type of phrasal verb is:

verb

+

adverb

These phrasal verbs can be:

• transitive (direct object)
• intransitive (no direct object)

Look at these examples of transitive and intransitive::

		meaning	example sentence
				direct object
transitive	put off	postpone	We will have to put off	the meeting.
	turn down	refuse	They turned down	my offer.
intransitive	get up	rise from bed	I don't like to get up.
	break down	stop working	He was late because his car broke down.

Separable

When this type of phrasal verb has a direct object, we can usually separate the two parts. For example, "turn down" is separable. We can say: "turn down my offer" or "turn my offer down". Look at these example sentences:

	They turned down my offer.
	They turned my offer down.

However, if the direct object is a pronoun, we have no choice. We must separate the two parts of the verb and insert the pronoun. Look at these examples with the verb "switch on". Note that the last one is impossible:

	John switched on the radio.
	John switched the radio on.
	John switched it on.
	John switched on it.

Separable or inseparable?
Many dictionaries tell you when a phrasal verb is separable. If a dictionary writes "look (something) up", you know that the phrasal verb "look up" is separable, and you can say "look something up" and "look up something". It's a good idea to write "sthg/sby" as appropriate in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasal verb, like this:

• get up
• break down
• break sthg off
• turn sthg/sby down

This tells you if the verb needs a direct object (and where to place it).

Phrasal Verb: VERB + PREPOSITION

This type of phrasal verb is also called a "prepositional verb". The structure of a prepositional verb is:

verb

+

preposition

Because a preposition always has an object, all prepositional verbs have direct objects (ie they are transitive).

Look at these examples of prepositional verbs:

prepositional verb	meaning	example sentence
			direct object
believe in	have faith in the existence of	I believe in	God.
look after	take care of	He is looking after	the dog.
talk about	discuss	Did you talk about	me?
wait for	await	John is waiting for	Mary.

Prepositional verbs cannot be separated. That means that we cannot put the direct object between the two parts. For example, we must say "look after the baby". We cannot say "look the baby after":

	Who is looking after the baby?
	Who is looking the baby after?

It is a good idea to write "something/somebody" in your vocabulary book when you learn a new prepositional verb, like this:

• believe in something/somebody
• look after sthg/sby

This reminds you that the verb needs a direct object (and where to place it).

Phrasal Verb: VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION

This type of phrasal verb is also called a "phrasal-prepositional verb". The structure of a phrasal-prepositional verb is:

verb

+

adverb

+

preposition

Look at these examples of phrasal-prepositional verbs:

phrasal-prepositional verb	meaning	example sentence
			direct object
get on with	have a friendly relationship with	He doesn't get on with	his wife.
put up with	tolerate	I won't put up with	your attitude.
look forward to	anticipate with pleasure	I look forward to	seeing you.
run out of	use up, exhaust	We have run out of	eggs.

Because phrasal-prepositional verbs end with a preposition, there is always a direct object. And, like prepositional verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs cannot be separated. Look at these examples:

	We ran out of gas.
	We ran out of it.
	We ran gas out of.
	We ran out gas of.

It is a good idea to write "something/somebody" in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasal-prepositional verb, like this:

• get on with somebody
• put up with sthg/sby
• run out of something

This reminds you that the verb needs a direct object (and where to place it).

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-conditional.htm
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-modals.htm
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/phrasal-verbs.htm