These questions ask you to complete or recognise a sentence about a present situation that is not true, or a future situation treated as unlikely. Your task is to identify the condition and the imagined consequence, then give each clause its own form.
Build the meaning before the verbs
First find the premise. A stated absence, inability or contrary present fact points to an unreal condition; language that presents an event as remote points to an unlikely one. Next divide the sentence into the if-clause and the result. Put the lexical verb in the past simple after if, but read that past form as distance from reality rather than past time. In the result, use would followed by the unchanged base form when the sentence gives the predicted or intended consequence.
| Decision signal | Form to build |
|---|---|
| The premise denies or contradicts the situation now | Use a past-simple condition after if. |
| The premise treats a future situation as unlikely | Use the same past-simple condition to mark distance from reality. |
| The sentence gives the imagined consequence | Use would plus the base form in the result clause. |
| The condition uses be with a singular subject | Was and were are both standard; were has a more formal tone. |
Keep clause jobs separate. The past form marks the condition as unreal or remote, while would marks what follows under that condition. This division remains the same whether the if-clause comes first or second. When a prompt establishes a definite prediction or a firm intended consequence, do not weaken it to mere ability or possibility.
Where the mistakes come from
- Would is moved into the if-clause because the whole sentence feels hypothetical. In the ordinary second-conditional pattern, that clause needs a past-simple form; would belongs to the result.
- A present form is left after if while the result still uses would. That mixture loses the grammatical signal of an unreal or unlikely condition. Return to the premise and mark its distance with the past simple.
- Will is placed after if to make the sentence sound future. Future time does not require will in this condition: an unlikely future is still expressed with the past-simple form after if.
- The result is left in the past simple or present simple, or is changed to will. Those forms fail to express the imagined consequence required by a premise that denies the present condition; use would plus the base form.
Try it
Complete the sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets: Our roof faces north, and orientation is the only requirement we fail: we have firmly promised the housing cooperative that panels go up on any south-facing roof of ours. If ours faced south, we ___ solar panels. (install)
Complete the sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets: I currently work weekends, but I have made a firm decision about free Saturdays: if I had Saturdays free, I ___ at the animal shelter. (volunteer)
Complete the sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets: The square is hidden behind warehouses, and the planning report gives a definite prediction: if it opened onto the river, it ___ more visitors. (attract)