Fork in the road"If" sentences are called condtionals. "If" means that something may or may not happen. It is like a switch, or a fork in the road. It is a yes-no, a right-left, a stay-or-go situation:

We use "if" when we don't know or we are not sure. Conditional sentences tell us the result or outcome of a situation. The situation might or might not happen. It can be true. It can be imagined.

• If I go... → I am not sure. Maybe I will stay home.
• If it rains... → I don't know. I didn't check the weather forecast.

The Basic Pattern

Conditionals use two parts: the condition and the result. The table below shows some examples:

[2] needs [1] to happen first. [1] is a condition of [2].

1. In example 1, I will swim at the beach, but we need to go there first.
2. In example 2, she will be happy, but you need to tell her first.
3. In example 3, you can tell Paul, but you need to call him first.

Each [2] is conditional on [1].

The Five Conditionals

In English, there are 5 ways we can talk about conditional situations: