Wednesday 11 December 2013

First Conditional: real possibility

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
IFconditionresult
present simpleWILL + base verb
Ifit rainsI will stay at home.
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen. Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [IF condition result] and [result IF condition]?):
IFconditionresult
present simpleWILL + base verb
IfI see MaryI will tell her.
IfTara is free tomorrowhe will invite her.
Ifthey do not pass their examtheir teacher will be sad.
Ifit rains tomorrowwill you stay at home?
Ifit rains tomorrowwhat will you do?

resultIFcondition
WILL + base verbpresent simple
I will tell MaryifI see her.
He will invite Taraifshe is free tomorrow.
Their teacher will be sadifthey do not pass their exam.
Will you stay at homeifit rains tomorrow?
What will you doifit rains tomorrow?

                                  Imperatives




Definition: Imperatives are verbs used to give orders, commands,warning or instructions, and (if you use "please") to make a request. It is one of the three moods of an English verb (indicative, imperative and subjunctive).
For example:
  • Give me that tape, please.
To make the imperative, use the infinitive of the verb without "to"
For example:
  • Come here!
  • Sit down!
To make a negative imperative, put "do not" or "don't" before the verb:
For example:
  • Don't go!
  • Do not walk on the grass.