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Find all our podcasts by searching BBC Learning English in your podcast app Or visit bbclearningenglish .com Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Neil.
And me, Catherine. Hello.
Now, Catherine, would you like to have some of this delicious chocolate I've got here?
Oh, Neil, I'd love to, but I can't.
When I eat chocolate, I get terrible headaches.
That's bad luck. I know, it's horrible.
If I eat chocolate, I just get fat.
Do you? You don't look it.
You look thin. That's all the cycling, you see.
I can eat whatever I want because of all the cycling.
Lucky you. Now, in this programme, we're looking at the zero conditional and the first conditional.
We'll be discussing why and when we use them.
We'll see how to form them.
We'll help you decide which ones to use in which situation.
And we'll bring you a quiz at the end of the show.
So listen carefully and take some notes.
Let's start by looking at the zero conditional.
We use it to talk about things which always happen in particular situations.
For example, I always get a headache if I eat chocolate.
And we also use the zero conditional to talk about facts and truths.
And here's Finn with our first example.
If you drop an apple, it falls to the ground.
That's gravity for you!
Now, there are two parts to the sentence.
The part with if, plus the present simple, tells us the situation.
And the other part is in the present simple tense and tells us what happens as a result of the if situation.
Here's Finn with an example of the if situation.
If you drop an apple.
And I'll say that again.
If you drop an apple.
And the result? It falls to the ground.
Once more. It falls to the ground.
And this result happens every time the situation happens.
Isn't that right, Catherine?
That's correct, Neil.
It is a scientific fact and it was first identified by Isaac Newton, I believe.
I think you're right.
So, that's the zero conditional.
Let's compare it with an example of the first conditional.
Finn. If you drop that glass, it'll break.
And once again. If you drop that glass, it'll break.
Now, in this sentence, the if plus present simple part gives us a possible future situation.
The other part is made with will plus an infinitive without to and it gives us the result of this possible future situation.
If you drop that glass, if you drop that glass...
And this is only a possible situation.
It'll break, it'll break.
And this is the result of the situation.
We use will to show that we're certain that the glass will break, but it only breaks if we drop the glass.
When we are less certain of the result, we can use might, like this.
this. If you drop the glass it might break.
And once again. If you drop the glass it might break.
It's sometimes difficult to choose between the zero and first conditional.
It helps to remember that as well as using the zero conditional for truths, we also use it for general situations.
If you're talking about a specific situation or a one -off situation, the first conditional is probably best. For example, to describe a general situation that is true for everyone, we can use the zero conditional to say...
If you sit in the sun too long, you get burned.
But if your friend's about to go sunbathing, perhaps without any sun cream, you can use the first conditional to talk about that specific situation and its possible result, like this.
If you sit in the sun too long, you will get burned.
And it's quiz time.
Are these sentences grammatically correct or wrong?
Here's the first one.
When we're older, we'll go travelling.
OK, this first conditional sentence is correct.
Good. Here's another one.
If plants don't get water, they die.
this sentence is correct too and get ready for the last sentence if I fail my exams again I feel terrible and that's wrong it's a specific situation and it's describing a possibility not a certainty so we need the first conditional here's the correct sentence if I fail my exams again I will feel terrible now before we go there's just enough time for a top tip The first conditional only has one will, so this sentence is wrong.
If they will leave now, they'll be home for lunch. You need to use present simple without will in the if part.
Here's the correct version.
If they leave now, they'll be home for lunch. Thank you, Finn.
So that's a zero conditional with the present tense in both parts for things which always happen.
And that's the first conditional with if plus present simple together with will plus an infinitive for possible future situations.
There's more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish .com.
Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar. Bye.
Bye. Thank you.
