BEING A TEACHER IS A DIFFICULT TASK NOWADAYS, SO I DECIDED TO FOLLOW THIS PIECE OF ADVICE BY BRUCE LEE:
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
Well, hardly anything is impossible if we make a real effort to solve it. We have often talked about droughts and problems with water in our planet. Have a look at the next documentary and you'll see what amazing measures, investments, discoveries... they have made in Saudi Arabia to turn a desert into an oasis!!!!
And nothing has been impossible for our relentless Nadal: 1 , 2 & just go back to the year 2000. So with effort and commitment you can achieve anything: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!
"Neil Armstrong said he would have spent his summer holidays in Mars if he had known there was life on Mars (listening exercise, 6 Minute English). Well, this is not really true, but something is pretty sure (feeling jealous of Patricia and Andrea), I would have won the 2016 photo contest at our school if they had allowed teachers to participate. Do you remember the meme I made some weeks ago?", said Albert.
Forget about this fake situation I have just made up. It was just a way to present the IMPOSSIBLE or UNREAL CONDITIONALS, that is, the Third Conditionals. Click on the link and read about it. Then do the 5 exercises proposed. And here's another one.
By the way, have you seen the film 'The Martian' (Bring him home)? Would you like to spend some time on Mars if you had the opportunity? (HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS) Apart from the 6 exercises just presented, here's another one.
NOTES ON THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES (for further details visit my site)
To begin with, we have to
differentiate between the 'IF-CLAUSE' and the 'MAIN CLAUSE'. If we put
the IF CLAUSE first, you have to put a comma after it.
If we put the IF CLAUSE first, you have to put a comma after it. (You have to put a comma after it if we put the...)
IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE
- There are three main types of conditional sentences:
REAL CONDITIONALS.- You are based on a real situation.
HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS.- You are based on a hypothetical (NOT IMPOSSIBLE) situation.
IMPOSSIBLE or UNREAL CONDITIONALS.- You are based on past facts that cannot be changed at all.
REMEMBER THAT IN THE IF-CLAUSE WE DON'T USUALLY HAVE EITHER 'WILL' OR 'WOULD', WHICH IS A SIMILAR CASE TO THE TIME CLAUSES.
1. REAL CONDITIONALS
They are based on a real situation, so the main clause depends on the if-clause.
If + PRESENT SIMPLE...... >>> Future Simple (we will have a barbecue in the garden)
If it is sunny,... >>> Modal verb (we can have a barbecue in the garden, we must moan the lawn)
>>> Imperative (come to my house and we will have a barbecue in the garden)
ZERO CONDITIONALS
They are used when we refer to physical laws, rules..... If + PRESENT SIMPLE... >>> PRESENT SIMPLE
Example: Water freezes if it reaches a temperature of 0º C.
2. HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS
They
are based on a hypothetical situation, which may seem in many cases
impossible, so you have to be careful. Just imagine the case of Pau
Gasol when he was 4 and said: "I would play in the LA Lakers and the
Chicago Bulls if I played in the NBA).
SITUATION: It is raining and the weather forecast is not very optimistic, so it is not very likely that it is sunny.
If + PAST SIMPLE...... >>> Conditional Simple (we would have a barbecue in the garden)
If it were (was) sunny,... >>> MIGHT & COULD are also possible
'WERE' used to be the only possible form in the if-clause, although nowadays both forms (was, were) are possible.
3. IMPOSSIBLE or UNREAL CONDITIONALS
They are based on impossible situations which we cannot change at all.
SITUATION: Kennedy was murdered.
If + PAST PERFECT...... >>> CONDITIONAL PERFECT
If John Fitzgerald Kennedy had not been murdered, he would have been a great president. BUT he was murdered.
One extra exercise, similar to the one you will have in the exam:
CONDITIONALS. Complete the
sentences with the appropriate tenses (___).
1. "Your
girl (BE) _______________ safe if you (FOLLOW) ________________ our
instructions." said the hijackers.
2. We
can go to the playground if the History teacher (NOT COME) ________________
today.
3. If we
(STUDY) ___________________ more in the first term, we (PASS) __________________
our English exams.
4. I
(PLAY) _________________ in the NBA if I (BE)__________ taller.
5. If I
had a Ferrari, nobody in Salobreña (DRIVE) _______________ faster than me.
6. If Indurain (NOT RETIRE)
__________________________ so soon, he (PROBABLY WIN)____________________ the Tour de France for
the sixth time.
Well, hardly anything is impossible if we make a real effort to solve it. We have often talked about droughts and problems with water in our planet. Have a look at the next documentary and you'll see what amazing measures, investments, discoveries... they have made in Saudi Arabia to turn a desert into an oasis!!!!
Here are two examples of our students at work >>>
