General English Level 3 V 3

UNIT 04 Money matters TOPIC 02 If I save some money ...

	LANGUAGE FOCUS 03 The first conditional
	Find out how to talk about what might happen.

Maria says:
Maria :	If I save enough money before then, I'll go on a holiday afterwards.
Maria:	My mother will be very upset if I don't go home for Christmas.

This is called the first conditional. We use the first conditional to talk about possible future events. These events might happen but they depend on another event. Look at these examples:

If I sav e enough money before then, I'll go on a holiday afterwards.
Maria might go on a holiday. It depends on how much money she saves.

We'll miss the bus if we don't hurry.
They might catch the bus. It depends on how quickly they leave the restaurant.

We make the first conditional by using two clauses.

conditional clause	main clause
If + the present simple tense, If we don't hurry,	+ will + verb we'll miss the bus.

We can also start the first conditional with the main clause.

When we start a conditional sentence with the "if" clause, we usually use a comma to separate the two clauses. When we start the sentence with the main clause, we don't usually need to use a comma.

If	I sa ve some money,	I'll (I will)	be able to go on holiday.
	you g et another job,	you'll
	she w orks hard,	she'll
	he works extra hours,	he'll
	they sel l their car,	they'll

I'll	be able to go on holiday	if	I save some money.
You'll			you get another job.
She'll			she works hard.
He'll			he works extra hours.
They'll			they sell their car.

We can express the same meaning using negative forms of the verb in the main clause and the 'if' clause.

Examples

1	Read the examples.
2	Listen to the examples
3	Practise saying each example. Use the Pause button.

If I pass my exams in December, I'll be a doctor.
I won't pass my exams if I don't study hard.
If you don't eat good food, you'll get sick.
If we don't hurry, we'll be late.
He'll get cold if he doesn't take a jumper.

Now go to 04 PRACTICE The first conditional.