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SECOND CONDITIONAL EXERCISE 1 (ESL)

level: Intermediate (B1/B2)
✓ Useful for IELTS ✓ Useful for Cambridge B2/C1
The second conditional is used to talk about hypothetical, imaginary, or unlikely situations in the present or future. It follows a fixed structure: if + past simple in the condition clause, and would + base verb in the result clause. This is exercise 1 of 2 in this series.
Grammar review The second conditional is used to talk about hypothetical or unreal situations in the present or future. It describes events that are unlikely or imaginary and their possible results.

Structure:
If + past simple, would + base verb

The if clause
Use the past simple — never would:
✗ If I would have more money...
✓ If I had more money...

With to be, use were for all subjects in formal writing:
If I were you, I would apologize.

The main clause
Use would + base verb. You can also use could or might:
If he trained harder, he could make the team.

Common uses
• Unreal situations: If I lived in Paris, I would visit the Louvre every weekend.
• Advice: If I were you, I wouldn't take that job.
• Wishes: If she had more confidence, she would apply for the promotion.


READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!

Complete each second conditional sentence with the correct verb form.

1. If my grandfather were younger, he _________ so many things.
2. If I _________ more money, I would buy a new car.
3. If she _________ harder, she would get better grades.
4. Would you travel more if you _________ more free time?
5. If I _________ you, I would apologize immediately.
6. She _________ happier if she had a less stressful job.
7. If they _________ closer, we could visit them more often.
8. What _________ you do if you found a wallet on the street?
9. If he _________ the truth, nobody would believe him.
10. I _________ a dog if I didn't travel so much.
11. If it _________ so cold, we could eat outside.
12. She _________ more if the work were more interesting.
13. If I _________ a better cook, I would invite people over more often.
14. _________ you quit your job if you won the lottery?
15. If I spoke better Chinese, I _________ that job in Shanghai.
16. He wouldn't say that if he _________ it.
17. I _________ on a trip around the world if I won the lottery.
18. I _________ that if I were you.
19. If these walls _________ thicker, we wouldn't hear the neighbors.
20. If I were a millionaire, _________ a mansion.
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More conditional exercises The first conditional 1 (B)
The first conditional 2 (B)
The second conditional 1 (I)
The second conditional 2 (I)
First or second conditional? 1 (I)
The third conditional 1 (I/A)
The third conditional 2 (I/A)
Conditional tenses (mixed) 1 (I)
Conditional tenses (mixed) 2 (I)
Conditional or future? 1 (I)
Conditional, future, or present? 1 (I)

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Grammar review The second conditional is used to talk about hypothetical or unreal situations in the present or future. It describes events that are unlikely or imaginary and their possible results.

Structure:
If + past simple, would + base verb

The if clause
Use the past simple — never would:
✗ If I would have more money...
✓ If I had more money...

With to be, use were for all subjects in formal writing:
If I were you, I would apologize.

The main clause
Use would + base verb. You can also use could or might:
If he trained harder, he could make the team.

Common uses
• Unreal situations: If I lived in Paris, I would visit the Louvre every weekend.
• Advice: If I were you, I wouldn't take that job.
• Wishes: If she had more confidence, she would apply for the promotion.
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