Answer key - Modals - Exercise 4
Isabella can't have been living here for very long. She only speaks a few words of Hungarian.
Look at all the leftover sandwiches! We needn't have prepared so much food for the party.
Can you see that turn left sign? It means we have to turn left here.
It was a great time, and I couldn't have been happier.
You had better start packing if you want to catch the 3.30 plane. / You need to start packing if you want to catch the 3.30 plane.
I didn't use to read much when I was in secondary school, but now I do.
Will/Can/Could you hold this for me, please?
Pupils may not run in the corridor. / Pupils can't run in the corridor. It's a school rule.
We could go out more often, don't you think?
Can/Could/May I get you something to drink?
Answer key - Modals - Exercise 5
Can you play a musical instrument?
Could you swim when you were 6 years old?
Would you like to be able to speak five languages?
Did you have to wear a uniform when you were at school?
Do you think you should study harder?
Could you stay out late when you were a teenager?
Do you think you should be allowed to use your mobile during an exam?
Is there any food that you used to like but you don't like now?
What are you going to do after this lesson?
Do you think you will ever speak perfect English?
Chapter 3: Conditionals and unreal tenses
Guiding questions: conditionals and unreal tenses
Unreal tenses
Conditionals
WISH / IF ONLY
IT'S (HIGH) TIME
AS IF / AS THOUGH
WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER
Conditionals in indirect speech
Revision questions: conditionals and unreal tenses
Exercises: conditionals and unreal tenses
Guiding questions: conditionals and unreal tenses
What are the types of conditionals?
What are unreal tenses?
Which conditionals can be mixed?
Which modals can be used in conditionals?
What is the similarity between conditionals and sentences starting with I wish... / If only...?
Unreal tenses
Unreal tenses are verb forms used in subordinate clauses that express unreal or hypothetical situations:
The past subjunctive, which has the same form as the past simple tense, is used to refer to present or future time: I wish you were here. (you are not here)
What would you do if you won the lottery? (you probably won't win the lottery)
The past perfect subjunctive, which has the same form as the past perfect tense, is used to refer to past time: If I had gone to bed earlier, I wouldn't have overslept. (I didn't go to bed earlier)
He seems as if he hadn't slept for days. (it seems that he hasn't slept for days, but actually he has)
Unreal tenses are used in second and third conditionals and after wish / if only, as if / as though, it's (high) time and would rather / would sooner.
Related topics:
Past subjunctive
Past perfect subjunctive
Conditionals
Conditional sentences usually consist of a subordinate if-clause and a main clause. The order of the clauses is optional, but if the if-clause is first, a comma is used to separate the two clauses:
You might have been accepted if you had applied earlier.
If you had applied earlier
,
you might have been accepted.
If the if-clause is first, we can use then in the main clause:
If you had applied earlier,
then
you might have been accepted.
The different types of conditionals, which are discussed on the following pages, may refer to different times (future, present, past) and express different degrees of reality. The choice of verb forms used in conditionals depends on whether the condition is true, probable or unreal.
If the condition is true or probable, we use real tenses:
If you
missed
the 6 o'clock train, you
won't get
here before 7.
(the condition is true: you missed the train; here
missed
refers to the past and
won't get
to future time)
If you
miss
the 6 o'clock train, you
won't get
here before 7.
(the condition is probable: you may miss the train; here
miss
and
won't get
refer to future time)
If the condition is unreal, we use unreal tenses:
If you
missed
the 6 o'clock train, you
wouldn't get
here before 7.
(the condition is unreal or improbable: you probably won't miss the train; here the past subjunctive form
missed
and
wouldn't get
refer to future time)
If you
had missed
the 6 o'clock train, you
wouldn't have got
here before 7.
(the condition is unreaclass="underline" you didn't miss the train; here the past perfect subjunctive form
had missed
and
wouldn't have got
refer to past time)
Zero conditional
First conditional
Second conditional
Third conditional
Mixed conditionals
IF, EVEN IF, ONLY IF, AS LONG AS, PROVIDED, SUPPOSING, UNLESS, BUT FOR, IF NECESSARY, IF SO, IN CASE etc.
Less likely conditions
Conditionals and inversion
Zero conditional
IF + PRESENT TENSE | PRESENT TENSE
IF + PAST TENSE | PAST TENSE
The zero conditional expresses that something is (or was) always true or that one action is (or was) always followed by another:
If you
heat
water to 100 degrees Celsius, it
boils
.
If John
is cursing
, it
means
that he