Verb Forms in Unreal Conditional Sentences (present and future)

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with  Jennifer. If you need to improve your skills  

in English, you're in the right place. Don't  forget to subscribe and turn on notifications.  

I wonder how many of you would make a  significant change in your life if you could.  

For example, if money weren't an issue, would  you quit your job? If someone promised complete  

safety, would you travel more? I recently survived  a year-long home renovation project. It wasn't  

easy, but it was necessary. If I didn't have  a home office, I couldn't easily work online.

For many reasons, we imagine our lives  and the world differently. We sometimes  

speak hypothetically. We're not saying that  things will happen, but they could happen.  

This is when we use unreal conditionals.  

The verb forms can be a little confusing, so  let's practice together. Ready? And hey! Don't  

forget you can get more support as a member of  my YouTube channel. Click join to learn more.

A conditional sentence with "if" has an  if-clause and a main clause, the result clause.  

When we talk about an unreal or very  unlikely situation in the present or future,  

what verb form follows "if"? Consider my examples.  

I wonder how many of you would make a  significant change in your life if you could.  

If money weren't an issue, would you quit  your job? If someone promised complete safety,  

would you travel more? If I didn't have a  home office, I couldn't easily work online.

In the if-clause, we shift verbs  from the present tense to the past.  

That's how we shift from the real  or likely to the unreal or unlikely.  

The simple present becomes the simple past.  Money is an issue, but imagine if it weren't.

No one promises you complete safety,  but imagine if someone promised this.

I have a home office, but  imagine if I didn't have one.

Some people like to use the  name "the second conditional."  

I think it's easier and clearer to focus on  the meaning and purpose of this structure.  

We're forming conditionals about the present or  future. The situations are imaginary, so both the  

condition and the result are unreal or unlikely.  Let's note something special about the verb "be"  

in the if-clause. In an unreal conditional about  the present or future, we use "were" for all  

subjects: if I were, if you were, if she were,  if he were, if it were, if we were, if they were,  

You won't always hear American English speakers  shift to "were" in unreal conditionals about  

the present or future. Sometimes we break  "the rule," especially in informal speech.  

If money wasn't an issue, we'd all travel more.

Some may consider this acceptable, just more  informal. Others may consider this wrong. I  

generally recommend standard grammar, but  I think you should be flexible and ready  

to hear variations. If I were you, I'd take a  look at how I allocate my resources, is all.  

If it were cancer, well,  then we'd try and kill it.  

Great. Okay. Because I thought,  like, that would suck if he wasn't.  

We can also shift a verb in the present  progressive to the past progressive. I'm still  

posting videos on YouTube. It would be sad and  strange if I weren't posting videos on YouTube.

Okay. So we agree. In the if-clause of an  unreal conditional about the present or future,  

we use the simple past or the past progressive.  

What verb form or forms do we use in  the main clause, the result clause?  

Again, let's look at examples. If money weren't  an issue, many people would quit their jobs.

If someone promised complete  safety, we would likely travel more.

If I didn't have a home office,  I couldn't easily work online.

If I weren't able to teach for some reason,  I might try to make it as a novelist.

Most often, we use "would" + the base verb. It's  also possible to use "could" or "might" + the base  

verb. "Would" is the most probable result.  "Might" expresses a weaker possibility.  

"Could" express ability or the  possibility of doing something.

Again, we're focusing on situations that  are unreal or unlikely. And note how we  

could use "then" in the result clause. This  is common when the result clause is second.  

If money weren't an issue, then  many people would quit their jobs.  

Many people would quit their  jobs if money weren't an issue.

And then who would be laughing then, Joseph? Huh? Then we wouldn't be sitting here, would we?  

Let's practice. I have three questions for you.  One. Is there a famous person you'd love to meet?  

If I had the chance to invite a celebrity to  dinner, I would invite Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.  

How about you? Who would you invite?

Two. Do you ever wish you could go  back in time and witness history?  

If I could visit the past to observe an  important event, I might want to witness  

the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. How  about you? What might you want to witness?

Three. If I were a millionaire, I could  pay all my bills without any stress.  

How about you? What could you do?

Feel free to share your answers in  the comments. I'm going to increase  

the challenge now. Can you fix the mistakes  with the verbs in the following sentences?

Here are the answers.

Four. I don't think giving up chocolate  is possible, but if I ate less sugar,  

I would feel healthier and stronger.  We can also use the contraction "I'd."  

Five. It would be awful if we lost  electricity for more than a day.

Six. I know it's unlikely, but if  I met the president of our country,  

I would ask a few questions.

Unreal conditionals allow us to express wishes  or say what's wrong with the world today. Listen.

I would have to say world peace.  Definitely, world peace.   

That's easy. World peace. World peace. What is the one most important thing our society needs?

That would be harsher punishment for  a parole violators, Stan. And world peace.

So, why don't we have world peace? Maybe if  we had more tolerance and less greed, we might  

have fewer wars. Can you give another reason?  Challenge yourself and use an unreal conditional.

Sandra Bullock's character, who is an FBI  agent, says we need harsher punishments.  

What do you think? If there were harsher  punishments, would we have less crime?  

You can tell me your opinion, but you  have to use another unreal conditional.

That's all for now. Please like and share  the video if you found the lesson useful.  

As always, thanks for watching and happy  studies! Follow me on Facebook, Twitter,  

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