Learn to use what ifs in English
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| Do you know how to talk about what ifs in English? |
| Hi, my name is Alisha, and this is Three Step English by EnglishClass101.com. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn "talking about what ifs in english" through a quick conversation. |
| Let's look at the dialogue. |
| As you listen, pay attention to how they ask about the topic and how the other person responds. |
| Let's go to 10,000 Lanes after this. |
| But is it even open? Could you check? |
| Their site says it's open until midnight. |
| How crowded is it? When I go there, it's always crowded. |
| If it's crowded, we'll go somewhere else. |
| Could you call ahead? |
| Let's go over the dialogue again, more slowly this time. |
| Let's go to 10,000 Lanes after this. |
| But is it even open? Could you check? |
| Their site says it's open until midnight. |
| How crowded is it? When I go there, it's always crowded. |
| If it's crowded, we'll go somewhere else. |
| Could you call ahead? |
| Let's focus on the key part of the conversation. |
| This person |
| Is asking this person |
| Whether the place they are planning to go to is crowded. |
| The person they're asking doesn't know, so they say |
| "If it's crowded, we'll go somewhere else." |
| "If it's crowded," sets a condition. In a situation where "it", 10,000 Lanes, "is crowded," then a result will happen. |
| "We'll go somewhere else" is the result. "We'll" is a contraction of "We will." It shows that the two "WILL" "go somewhere else," "if it is crowded." |
| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| If + present simple verb + modal verb with future meaning. |
| This structure is called the first conditional. It might sound a bit complicated but it’s actually not difficult to master. |
| We use the first conditional to talk about real or possible situations in the future. It describes a condition—something that might happen—and the likely result of that condition. |
| Let’s break it down step by step so you can see how it works. |
| Let’s see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| If it's crowded, we'll go somewhere else. |
| The sentence uses two contractions. The uncontracted version of the sentence is |
| If it is crowded, we will go somewhere else. |
| In this sentence, "If" introduces the condition, "It is crowded" uses the present simple tense to describe the condition that might happen in the future. Here, "is" is the present simple verb. "Will" is the modal verb that expresses the future result, "go somewhere else" describes the action or result that will happen if the condition is met. |
| You can also swap the clauses without changing the meaning. For example, "We will go somewhere else if it is crowded." |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| If you all don't hurry, I'll just go ahead. |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| The sentence starts with "If," and then "don't" is the present simple verb. Note that, unlike in the dialogue, the entire contraction of "don't" is considered as the verb. |
| That is because in the dialogue, the contractions were combining pronouns with verbs, like "we'll" being "we" plus "will." |
| In the case of "don't," it combines "do" and "not." Here, "do" is the verb, and "not" changes it to the negative form. |
| After that, we have another contraction of a pronoun and verb in "I'll," which is "I" plus "will." "Will" is the modal verb, and "just go ahead" is the action they'll take in this what if situation. |
| Next... |
| If they put us near the smoking section, I'll ask to move. |
| If they put us near the smoking section, I'll ask to move. |
| Let's try one last example, |
| If it looks like rain, I'll bring an umbrella. |
| If it looks like rain, I'll bring an umbrella. |
| Let's review. |
| Using the sentence pattern we learned, do you know how the words should be ordered? |
| If |
| If you |
| If you just |
| If you just study |
| If you just study, you'll |
| If you just study, you'll pass. |
| If you just study, you'll pass. |
| Using the sentence pattern we learned, do you know how the words should be ordered? |
| If |
| If they |
| If they save |
| If they save money, |
| If they save money, they'll |
| If they save money, they'll take |
| If they save money, they'll take a |
| If they save money, they'll take a trip. |
| If they save money, they'll take a trip. |
| Now you know how to talk about what ifs in English. |
| Thank you for watching. |
| Now you know how to talk about what ifs in english. |
| ...and now you can move on to the practice. |
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