CONDITIONAL SENTENCES: SOLUTIONS Exercise 1: Change these conditional sentences type I into type II and type III. 1.- If you behaved yourself, I would take you to the theme park. If you had behaved yourself, I would have taken you to the theme park. 2.- He would be a good manager if he was eventually chosen. He would have been a good manager if he had been eventually chosen. 3.- I would get you a blue pen if I could find one. I would have got you a blue pen if I could have found one. 4.- If you gave me some paper, I would write the directions you need. If you had given me some paper, I would have written the directions you need. 5.- There would be more innocent people killed if we didn’t stop this unfair war. There would have been more innocent people killed if we hadn’t stopped this unfair war 6.- If you hurried, you’d catch the bus If you had hurried, you would have caught the bus.
Exercise 2: Write conditional sentences for these situations. 1.- If she hadn’t parked her car on a yellow line, the police officer wouldn’t have given her a ticket. 2.- She would get a better job if she had a university degree. 3.- If I hadn’t spent all my money on CDs, I would have bought a dictionary. 4.- If you see my sister, tell her that our mother is angry with her. 5.- If I liked cooking, I wouldn’t always eat in restaurants. 6.- If he worked harder, he might go to university. 7.- I wouldn’t have been late for work if I hadn’t forgotten my car keys. 8.- I would buy a computer if it wasn’t so expensive. 9.- If I had more time I would play the guitar more. 10.- If Susan doesn’t pass her exams, she will have to study during the summer.
Exercise 3: Write conditional sentences type I using the facts in the conditional clause and a suitable completion. (These are just possible answers. Other possibilities may well be correct. Please note the tense used in each sentence) 1.- If it rains tomorrow, we won’t go to the park. 2.- If you lose my mobile phone you’ll have to buy me a new one. 3.- If the are my size, I’ll buy them. 4.- If I change my job, my dad will be pleased. 5.- If we are late for class the teacher will get mad at us. 6.- If you open that door we will be cold. 7.- If you meet my friends in Edinburgh, give them my regards. 8.- he finds a job soon he’ll be able to rent a better apartment. 9.- If it is a baby boy, they’ll paint the room blue. 10.- If we get a pay rise next year, we won’t go on a strike.
Exercise 4: Write conditional sentences type II. 1.- If he could drive, he would buy a car. 2.- If the professor didn’t explain things clearly, students wouldn’t understand his lessons. 3.- If the exam wasn’t that easy, some students would have difficulties to pass it. 4.- If Britain didn’t import so much, there wouldn’t be a problem with overall national spending. 5.- If I didn’t know the meaning of the word, I would have to look it up. 6.- If I had a computer, I could send you an email. 7.- If I knew the answer, I would tell you. 8.- If we had some wood, we could light a fire (..we would be able to light a fire)
Exercise 5: Write conditional sentences type III for these situations. 1.- If Jack had heard about it in time, he would have joined Oliver’s expedition. 2.- If she hadn’t changed her nationality on marriage, he would have needed to have her visa extended.
3.- If they hadn’t run out of marmalade, they wouldn’t have had apricot jam. 4.- If I had known that Steve was going to be at the meeting, I wouldn’t have gone there. 5.- If George had told Hester about the girl he met at the party, she would have been jealous. 6.- If I had had something to do, I wouldn’t have turned on the TV to watch that horrible reality show. 7.- If William hadn’t been suddenly taken ill, he and his family would have gone on holiday to Spain. 8.- If Marie had seen that the customer was going out without paying, she would have stopped him. 9.- If the thief hadn’t been carrying a gun when the police caught him, he would have got a shorter sentence. 10.- If I had Known it was your birthday, I wouldn’t have asked you to clean the larder.
Exercise 6: Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense. 1.- If you find a skeleton… 2.- … we will have a celebration. 3.- What will happen if… 4.- .. if I had had a vote then. 5.- … where will you stay? 6.- … which would you choose? 7.- if the fog gets thicker. 8.- If the milkman comes, … 9.- Somenone will sit on your glasses… 10.- … if you didn’t talk so much. 11.- What shall I do if I hear the burglar alarm? 12.- If you had read the instructions… 14.- … I’ll go mad. 15.- … whalt would you do? 16.- … if we run out of petrol.
17.- … it won’t be fit to drink. 18.- … he comes with me. 19.- You wouldn’t have so many accidents… 20.- If you had worn a false beard… 21.- If she leaves the fish there. 22.- … somebody will fall into it. 23.- … if you don’t change your wet clothes. 24.- … I wouldn’t have bought it. 26.- She would be able to walk faster… 27.- I woud have brought you…
Exercise 7: Complete the sentences so that they are meaningful. (These are just possible answers. Other possibilities may well be correct. Please note the tense used in each sentence) 1.- If he had taken my advice, he would have had better results. 2.- If you ate less, you would lose some weight. 3.- We’ll send for the doctor if she gets worse. 4.- If she practiced more, she would play the violin much better. 5.- If there isn’t enough wine in that bottle, we will open another one. 6.- If you had checked the petrol before we started, we wouldn’t have run out of petrol halfway there. 7.- This clock wouldn’t have run down if you had changed its batteries. 8.- Try on the blue one if the pink one is too tight 9.- If these gates are locked we will have to enter through the back door. 10.- If we leave before breakfast, we will arrive to the apartment in time. 11.- If the river rises any higher there will be floods in the town. 12.- Her life might have been saved if they had called an ambulance earlier. 13.- If the volcano starts erupting, people will have to move away from their houses. 14.- The glass would look better if you cleaned it with vinegar.
15.- Unless it is a nice day, we will stay at the office. 16.- If you don’t put enough stamps on the letter, the postal service will return it. 17.- He would lend it to you if you asked him for it. 18.-Unless this htel gets another cook, guests will eat somewhere else. 19.- If the storm becomes worse, we will go down to the basement. 20.- If your uncle sees you, he will tell your parents you were here. 21.- If you tried to climb it without a guide, you would probably get lost and die. 22.- If you didn’t shake the camera so much, your photographs wouldn’t be blurred. 23.- I’d have brought my coat if I had known it was so cold here. 24.- If you don’t like the picture, return it to the shop. 25.- He would have given her diamonds if she had accepted her proposal of marriage. 26.- If you had asked his permission, he would have allowed you to go out with us. 27.- If the fire had been noticed earlier, it could have been put out easily. 28.- If you had any sense, you wouldn’t act so foolishly. 29.- You would have been angry if we had told you what we had done with the old book. 30.- If he had put the flowers into water at once, they wouldn’t have faded so soon.