Present Unreal Conditionals. You may remember learning this grammar in a previous lesson. If it rains, I bring my umbrella. This sentence uses the present tense in both clauses, and expresses a real event about the present. Today, we will learn how to express conditionals for unreal or imagined situations, as in this example. If I had a car, I would drive to work. Notice the different verb tenses. Let's watch a short video to help us talk about the grammar. >> Hey. >> Hey. >> Did I just see you hitchhiking outside? >> Yeah, but I couldn't get a ride. >> Why? What were you doing? Why were you hitchhiking? >> Well, I don't have a car right now. If I had a car, then I wouldn't have to hitchhike. >> Okay, you know there are other ways to get to work. >> Well, if I lived closer, then I could just ride my bike to work. Alright, well if I didn't have clown school tonight, I would just give you a ride on my unicycle. >> Yeah, it's almost time for you to go. Don't forget your watch. >> Thank you. [SOUND] Good luck. >> You too. Here is the situation that I imagined in the video. If I had a car, I wouldn't have to hitchhike. We call this an unreal conditional, because the truth is that I do not have a car. And the truth is that I have to hitch hike. Notice the verb tenses in this sentence. In the if clause, we use the simple past tense, even though we are talking about a present situation. In the result clause, we use wood and the base verb. Let's look at the true information first. I don't have a car. This is in the present tense and the verb is negative. When we imagine the unreal situation we must change this verb from the negative to the affirmative. In addition, we must change the verb to the simple past tense in the if clause of the unreal conditional. Here is the second true statement, I have to hitchhike. For the result clause, again, we will have to change the verb from the affirmative to the negative. For the result clause you must use would and the base form of the verb. To make an unreal conditional about a situation in the present just follow these steps. First, change the negative verb to affirmative. Next, change the verb in the if clause to the past tense. Now let's look at the result clause. Again, first you must change the verb from affirmative to negative. Then use would and the base verb. Here's another example. Emily has clown school. She won't give me a ride on her unicycle. This is the result clause, so we will start here with the if clause. Remember, we need to change this verb from affirmative to negative and we must put it in the past tense. If Emily didn't have clown school. Now let's identify the main verb of the result clause. Give, this is negative so we must change it to the affirmative. She would give me a ride on her unicycle. Remember that the if clause uses simple past tense, and the result clause uses would. If Emily didn't have clown school now, she would give me a ride on her unicycle. But, notice the difference on the next example. If I lived closer, I could ride my bike to work. It is also possible to use could, instead of would, to express that something might be possible, or to express that I might have the ability to do something. Let's look at one more example, with the be verb. Here's my true statement. I am not from Japan. I am from the United States. As a result, I don't speak Japanese. These are my true statements. Now, let's imagine a different situation using an if clause. We know that this is the result clause. So we will start here with the if clause. First, we will make the verb negative. Next, you remember we must change it to past tense. For the be verb, there are two choices for past tense, was and were. Since the subject is I, you know that you usually use was as the past tense of be. However, in a conditional clause, we cannot use was. So it is incorrect to say, if I was from Japan. When you use the past tense be verb in the if clause of an unreal conditional, use were for all subjects. The correct if clause for this situation is, if I were from Japan. The result clause follows the same rules that we have previously discussed. If I were from Japan, I would speak Japanese. It is very common to use this grammar when giving advice. For example, if I were you, I would study more. Or if I were you, I would tell the truth.
