Advanced Grammar: Conditionals (IF) - Writing Challenge!

How comfortable are you making sentences with  "if"? If you've been studying English for a while,  

you probably know all the rules for conditional  sentences, and you might have learned these  

structures as zero, first, second, and third  conditionals. Personally, I don't use those  

terms very often. I prefer to focus on whether  the conditional sentences are real or unreal.  

Then we can give attention to the time frames:  past, present, future, or mixed time frames.

I'm assuming that you've  practiced conditionals before,  

so at this point practicing only one type  at a time doesn't build the flexibility  

that you need for real communication. You need  to be able to shift from one type to another.

Hi. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer.  Let me guide you through an exercise that will  

build your confidence with different types of  conditionals. We'll start with a story -- my  

story, and then get ready! Because it  will be time for you to share yours.

Do you know about my Facebook  page getting hacked? Listen.

If you follow me, you may know that doing  interviews is a fairly common activity  

for me. When I'm invited to speak about my  teaching or my book about being a YouTuber,  

I usually agree. Back in December 2024, I accepted  the invitation to be interviewed on a podcast. If  

I'd been more in tune with my instincts, I would  have seen the signs earlier, but I unknowingly  

gave hackers control of my Facebook business page.  If you've ever been deceived, you know how awful  

it feels to experience such heartlessness. Hackers  steal without mercy. It took a lot of mental work  

and willpower to calm down, forgive, and focus  on solving the problem. If I didn't have enough  

resilience and patience before, then this incident  certainly helped me develop these skills. It took  

more than three months to regain control of my  Facebook account. I'm incredibly grateful for  

all the help and support colleagues and viewers  gave. I wouldn't be where I am right now if all  

those wonderful people hadn't stood by me. You may  wonder how wary I've become of doing interviews.  

Well, I still accept invitations. You'll see  a list of recent interviews if you visit my  

website. But now if I'm invited to meet anyone  online, I'm very careful about the information  

I share before and during our meetings. I've  learned more than one lesson from getting my  

Facebook page out of the hands of hackers, and  every lesson has made me stronger and wiser.

Now let's go through the conditionals that I  used in my story. Each conditional sentence  

has two clauses, right? There's  the if-clause with the condition,  

and then the result clause, the main clause.  I want you to identify whether the clauses  

are real or unreal and what time frame  they refer to. There are eight sentences.

One. If you follow me, you may know that doing  interviews is a fairly common activity for me.

Real or unreal?

Both clauses are real. The if-clause is about  the present. I used the simple present. And the  

result clause is also about the present. I use the  modal verb "may" to express a present possibility.

Two. When I'm invited to speak about my  teaching or my book about being a YouTuber,  

I usually agree. Is this a conditional sentence?  Well, it's a general truth. Although I use "when,"  

there's little difference in this context. I  could change it to "if." Whether I use a time  

clause or a condition with "if," this is about  the present. I use the simple present passive.  

The main clause, the result clause, is also  real and present. I use the simple present.

Three. If I'd been more in tune with my instincts,  

I would have seen the signs  earlier. Real or unreal?

Unreal. What's the time frame?

Both clauses are about the past. I use the past  

perfect in the if-clause. A perfect  modal is in the result clause.

Four. If you've ever been deceived,  

you know how awful it feels to experience  such heartlessness. Real or unreal?

Real. Time frame?

Both clauses are about the  present. The if-clause uses  

the present perfect. The result  clause uses the simple present.

Five. If I didn't have enough  resilience and patience before,  

then this incident certainly helped me  develop these skills. Real or unreal?

Real. Both clauses are about the past,  and they both use the simple past.

Six. I wouldn't be where I am right now if all  

those wonderful people hadn't  stood by me. Real or unreal?

Unreal. Time frames?

This is a mixed conditional. The result  clause with "would" is about the present,  

now. And the condition with the  past perfect is about the past.

Seven. You'll see a list of recent interviews  if you visit my website. Real or unreal?

Real. Time frames?

Future. The if-clause uses the simple  present, and the result clause uses "will."

Eight. But now if I'm invited to meet  anyone online, I'm very careful about  

the information I share before or  during our meetings. Real or unreal?

Real. Time frames?

Present. It's a general truth.  The simple present is used in both 

clauses.

So what's the next step? I invite you to share  your own story that explores different time  

frames. Think of a difficult situation that  taught you a lesson. I want you to challenge  

yourself to use real and unreal conditionals.  Remember that unreal conditional sentences  

require the backshifting of verbs. That's when  present tense forms shift to the past and past  

tense forms shift to the past perfect. Another tip  is not to use "will" or "would" in the if-clause.

I invite you to share your story  with me in the comments. If you do,  

please know that I may choose to read  your story in a future video, so please  

only share your story if you're comfortable  with me reading it on camera. I'll edit it,  

and then I'll share the final version  with everyone so that we can all learn  

and appreciate your story. Here are some  possible sentence prompts that you can use.

I look forward to reading your  stories with examples of real  

and unreal conditional sentences. Challenge  yourself with different time frames as well.

We'll end here. Please remember to like  and share the video if you found the  

lesson useful. And if you're looking for  more learning challenges with my feedback,  

please consider joining my English  with Jennifer community on Patreon.  

This is where lifelong learners receive  live classes and tasks every month.

As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!