Podcast 22 - A2/B1 IELTS 4.5 Zero and First Conditionals

The Zero Conditional

Hello, and today I'm going to talk about the zero and first conditionals.

The structure of the zero conditional is very simple. You have the if clause, that's the part of the sentence with if. So you have:

if + the subject + the verb in present simple...

And then you must have a comma then the subject, plus the verb, also in Present Simple.

, + subject + the verb in present simple.

So for example:

Zero conditional - if you heat ice it melts

If you heat ice, it melts.

Now, we can say that the other way round, we're going to say:

Ice melts if you heat it. (no comma)

So what I've done is to put the if clause at the end of the sentence. So I have the subject, plus the verb, and there's no comma. And then if plus the subject and plus the verb, in present simple, all in present simple. Ice melts, if you heat it.

So ice, for example, from the fridge, which is that cold stuff. Obviously, if you put it in the oven, or in the microwave, it gets hot, and it melts. So why do we use the zero conditional? Well, it is usually used for sentences like the one I've just given you - a sort of scientific fact, things that are always true.

If you heat magnesium, it burns with a white flame.

I can remember doing that experiment at school, we heated up magnesium, which is a type of metal, and it suddenly burns with this white flame. It always does that. So we can say, as a scientific fact, if you heat magnesium, it burns with a white flame.

Now, we also use the zero conditional to talk about things that happen habitually. Habitually talks about things which are very frequent, all the time. So if you leave the door open, the cat comes in. It always happens. If you leave the door open, the cat comes in. If I sleep too much, in the afternoon, I get a headache. So when I have that siesta, if I sleep too long, then I get a headache. It always happens. It's habitual. It's always like that. So we use the zero conditional. Here is another one. If I go jogging, I always feel better. It always happens when I go jogging. I come back feeling much better, much healthier, and stronger and more awake, more alert. It always happens. So we use zero conditional in these situations.

The First Conditional

The first conditional is different, really, in that we're talking about a future. So the structure is:

If + the subject + the verb in present simple, and then a comma + the subject, and then we use some sort of modal auxiliary, like will, or can, or may, or might, or must, or going to, + the infinitive of the verb.

And that structure can be the other way around as well. Putting the if clause, the if part of the sentence at the end. So here's an example:

If I go out tonight, I'll go to the cinema.

So, if I go out, present simple, I'll go.

So that's the contracted form of I will we say, I'll, I'll go to the cinema. And of course, we can say then:

I'll go to the cinema if I go out tonight.

Now, when we use the first conditional, we think that we will do those things, it's very likely very probable, that we will do those things, here are some more examples:

If I get that job, I'll buy a new car.

And I really think I'm going to get that job!

If we leave now, we'll be at the beach before lunchtime.

I'm quite certain we will be there before lunchtime, if we leave now!

So we sometimes use the first conditional as a warning, a way to say be careful to some people, because we are certain that some action will happen. For example,

If you go out without your coat, you'll get a cold.

It's obvious, I think, if you go out without a coat, you'll get a cold. Another example:

If she doesn't walk slowly, she'll break that glass.

So you can imagine a child for example, holding a glass of water and walking along. And children tend to drop things easily. So we make the warning. If she doesn't walk slowly, she'll break that glass. She'll drop it on the floor, and it'll break.

Okay, so that's the end of my session on the zero and first conditionals. I recommend that you listen to the next one on the second conditional to compare with the first conditional. Okay, so bye for now!

Exercise on first conditional (various modals)...

Exercise on first conditional (modal 'will')...