ESL Game on Conditionals – If plus first, second, third and zero conditionals
English grammar quiz game to practice the use of first, second, third and zero conditionals for young ESL learners. Click the play button to begin.
What are conditionals? Conditionals are sentence structures that explain a particular situation and its consequences. They usually employ 'if sentences’ – i.e., if this happens, then this is the consequence. There are four types of conditionals in the English language.
- First conditionals usually refer to future events that have a real possibility of occurring. Hence, they are closer to our everyday realities. For ex. ‘If it rains, I will pick you up from school.’ When people make plans, we often hear them use first conditionals.
- Second conditionals usually refer to future events that are not real possibilities. They are imaginary possibilities with very little chance of them becoming true. Unlike the first conditional which uses ‘will’ in the sentence, second conditionals use ‘would’. For ex. ‘If I had a million dollars, I would buy a sports car.’ In addition, the verb ‘have’ in the example becomes ‘had’ in the past tense form.
- Third conditionals help us imagine the past. Therefore, unlike the first and second conditionals, it focuses on imagining how events ‘would have been’ different in the past ‘if’ another condition was in place. For ex. If I had studied Chinese when I was younger, I would have been fluent now.
- Finally, zero conditionals refer to conditions that are always true. For ex. If you heat water for long, it boils.
