PART IX: CONDITIONALS

UNIT 21: Present Real Conditionals

Unit Overview

Students will learn and practice present real conditionals in statements and questions.

Grammar in Context

Shopping online is becoming more and more popular as companies without doors offer goods and services through the Internet. However; shopping online (or selling online) can be risky because of confidentiality and security with money transactions.

Vocabulary

Surf (the Internet/Net/Web): to look quickly at different places on the Internet for information that interests you.

Dispute: to say that something such as a fact, idea, or charge is not correct or true.

Enter: to press “enter” on a computer keyboard.

Print out: to print from a computer. Precaution: something that you do to

prevent something bad or dangerous from happening.

Vocabulary

Bargain: to discuss a price with a seller in order to get a fair or better price.

Trick: a secret strategy. Vendor: someone who sells things, especially in

the street. Negotiation: a discussion between two people or

groups who are trying to agree on something. Crafts: skilled activity in which you make

something using your hands. Field: a subject that people study or are involved

in as part of their work. Such as: for example.

Comprehension Questions Why should you be sure that you buy only on a

secure site?If you enter your credit card number and the site is not secure, someone else could use your credit card.

Why are prices generally lower from Internet companies?They don’t have to pay for a store, lots of employees, or a large stock.

Why is a receipt important?If you don’t like what you bought, you can return it. A receipt proves that you bought it.

Discussion Topics

When supermarkets became popular; shoppers began to buy from people they didn’t know. They began to shop once a week, or even less often. The result is more isolation. Will more online shopping mean more isolation, just as supermarkets did? Is online shopping a positive change?

What precautions must a person take with credit cards, besides the ones mentioned in the reading?

Grammar Presentation

Statements

If Clause Result Clause

If I shop online, I save time.

If the mall is closed, I can shop online.

Statements

Result Clause If Clause

I save time if I shop online.

I can shop online if the mall is closed.

What’s the difference between the first and the second set of sentences?

Grammar Presentation

Yes / No Questions

Result Clause If Clause

Do you save time if you shop online?

Can you shop online if the mall is closed?

Short Answers

Affirmative Negative

Yes,I do.

No,I don’t.

I can. I can’t.

In yes/no questions the if clause usually comes at the end!

Grammar Presentation

Wh- Questions

Result Clause If Clause

What happens if I don’t like it?

In wh- questions the if clause usually comes at the end!

Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes Examples

Use present real conditional sentences for general truths.

General truths and scientific facts are phenomena that do not change.

The if clause talks about the condition, and the result clause talks about what happens if the condition occurs.

Use the simple present in both clauses.

USAGE NOTE: We often use even if when the result is surprising.

Credit cards are always faster, but also more expensive to use. If I drop a glass on the floor, it breaks.

•If it’s a holiday, the store is closed.•If you use a credit card, it’s faster.

•Even if it’s a holiday, this store stays open.

Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes Examples

You can also use real conditional sentences for habits and things that happen again and again.

Use the simple present or present progressive in the if clause. Use the simple present in the result clause.

You can often use when instead of if. This is especially true when you talk about general truths, habits, and things that happen again and again.

•If Bill shops online, he uses a credit card.

•If I’m surfing the Web, I use Google.

•When Bill shops online, he uses a credit card.•When I’m surfing the Web, I use Google.

Quick Pairwork

List five things you do everyday. Expand your statements into if

clause (or when clause) statements: I get up at six. If I don’t get up at six, I’m late for everything else all day.

Include some negative sentences, and sentences with he/she/it: If I forget to set my alarm clock, it doesn’t ring, and I don’t get to school on time.

Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes Examples

You can use modals (can, should, might, must…) in the result clause.

Modals change the meaning of the verb in the result clause. Modals are not generally used in if clauses.

•If you don’t like the product, you can return it.

•If you have children, you shouldn’t let them shop online.

Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes Examples

Use the imperative in the result clause to give instructions, commands, and invitations that depend on a certain condition.

USAGE NOTE: We sometimes use then to emphasize the result in real conditional sentences with imperatives or modals.

•If you change your mind, call the company.

•If a site isn’t secure, don’t enter your credit card information.

•If you change your mind, then call the company.

•If a site isn’t secure, then don’t enter your credit card information.

Quick Pairwork

Practice giving advice with the following result clauses:…wear a hat.…phone home.…don’t tell your mother.

Create conditions (with if or when clauses) under which you carry out the imperative in the result clause. Examples: If it’s cold, wear a hat. If you have a car accident, phone home. If you get a tattoo, don’t tell your mother.

Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes Examples

You can begin conditionl sentences with the if clause or the result clause. The meaning is the same.

BE CAREFUL! Use a comma between the two clauses only when the if clause comes first.

•If I shop online, I save time.

OR

•I save time if I shop online.

Quick Pairwork

Use your sentences from the previous pairwork, and reverse the order, with the if or when clauses at the end.

Check pronunciation to be sure that there is no pause when the comma is removed.