Conditional Sentences: Teacher's Guide

How to Teach First Conditional

The teacher starts the lesson by drawing a line to divide the board into two parts. Label the first part facts and the second part consequences. Then, give examples of facts.

FACTS	CONSEQUENCES
If I eat too much, If I don’t understand something, If I study hard, If I wake up late, If I have enough time this evening,

Ask students to imagine the consequences. Remind students to use the simple future.

Some suggestions for consequences:

I will get fat.

I will ask my teacher.

I will score good grades.

I will be late for school.

I will play football with my friends.

Elicit the conditional sentence type one pattern from students.

[IF + SIMPLE PRESENT + SIMPLE FUTURE]

Ask students to provide more examples.

How to Teach Second conditional/unreal conditional.

To teach second conditional, the teacher starts the lesson by asking students to think what they would do in the following situation.

Situation	I would…
If I won RM 1 million, If I became the Prime Minister, If I met Justin Bieber, If I knew my English teacher is very strict, If I found a wallet,

Elicit the conditional sentence type two pattern from students.

[IF + SIMPLE PAST + WOULD + VERB]

Ask students to provide more examples.

The teacher can give more situations for students to practice using second conditional and ask students to construct the sentences.

What would you do if…?
a shop keeper gives you too much change	you have an argument with your parents	a waiter at a restaurant is rude to you
you dropped your father’s handphone	you see a gold necklace on the floor	your best friend cheats during an exam
you lost your wallet	you see your sister smoking	your see your teacher carrying lot of books
you go to Paris	you have 28 hours a day	you meet the king of Malaysia

How to Teach Third conditional

The teacher can start the lesson by telling students a story.

When Amanda was 18 years old, she had to choose a career path, either to be an air stewardess or a doctor. She finally decides to become an air stewardess because she wanted to travel around the world and work at the same time.

If she hadn’t become an air stewardess, she wouldn’t have travelled to many countries. Amanda could have become a doctor too. If she had become a doctor, she would have saved many lives.

The story contains two conditional sentences.

The teacher asks students to identify both conditional sentences and elicit the form.

If she hadn’t become an air stewardess, she wouldn’t have travelled to many countries.

If she had become a doctor, she would have saved many lives.

Form:

[If + had + past participle + would + have + past participle]

Ask students some questions to check understanding:

a. Did Amanda become an air stewardess? (Yes)

b. Did she travel to many countries? (Yes)

c. Are we talking about the past, present or future? (The past)

The teacher tells students that the third conditional is used to talk about ‘impossible’ conditions. It is impossible because they are in the past and we cannot change what has happened.

The teacher gives more examples.

If I had worked harder at school, I would have got better grades.

If we had left the house earlier, we would have arrived on time.

The teacher asks students to give more examples. The teacher can provide pictures to aid students.