Use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the main clause.If the main clause precedes the if-clause, no punctuation is necessary.If a certain condition is true, then a particular result happens.I would travel around the world if I won the lottery.When people smoke cigarettes, their health suffers.If you set your mind to a goal, you’ll eventually achieve it.If I inherited a billion dollars, I would travel to the moon.If I owned a zoo, I might let people interact with the animals more.If you had told me you needed a ride, I would have left earlier.If I had cleaned the house, I could have gone to the movies.If aspirin will ease my headache, I will take a couple tonight.Writing, grammar, and communication tips for your inbox.You have been successfully subscribed to the Grammarly blog. The following sentences illustrate a couple of the common mistakes people make when using the second conditional:Third conditional sentences are used to explain that present circumstances would be different if something different had happened in the past. But, you can also see that we also need them to complete the thoughts of the dependent clauses!As a rule, conditional sentences are categorized by whether their situations are “real” or “imagined.” However, there are many types and forms of conditional statements, and they can be quite complicated, varying depending on time, its likeliness of occurring, and other factors. The speaker in the first sentence was capable of leaving early, but did not. You do ill if you praise, but you do worse if you censure, what you do not understand. We will cancel the trip if it rains. To put it simply, second conditionals reflect ideas of “if you did this, this can happen.” BUT, the “did” hasn’t actually happened yet, it’s just possible.The second conditional’s form uses a conditional clause in the past simple, and the main clause in the future tense, also using modals. Don ’ t use a comma if the if clause is at the end of the sentence. It’s important to use the correct structure for each of these different conditional sentences because they express varying meanings. Its form uses a conditional clause in the present simple, and the main clause in the Of all the conditionals, the first conditional expresses things that are most possible or likely to happen. So, the dependent clause is only half of a conditional sentence, and couldn’t be a sentence on its own.The main clause is what provides the rest of the information to complete a conditional sentence. (Polymath Leonardo da Vinci) Here are some examples:A conditional sentence has two clauses that really rely on each other to make sense—a conditional clause (which is a The conditional clause is a dependent clause beginning with “if.” All conditional sentences have a clause beginning with “if” because it expresses the conditions (what must or might have happen), like this:Whenever a clause begins with “if,” it depends on more information to be complete—it must be paired with an independent clause. One exception is when the action in the if-clause will take place The action in the if-clause is the aspirin easing the headache, which will take place only after the speaker takes them later that night.Note that the emphatic “were to” can be used to describe hypothetical scenarios in the present, future, and past.Despite the complex nature of conditional sentences, punctuating them properly is really simple! Look at the examples below:Note that we use the simple present tense in the if-clause and simple future tense in the main clause—that is, the clause that expresses the likely outcome. That’s because we use In a way, conditional sentences are some of the easiest to write because they always include certain things—particularly a conditional clause beginning with “if.” We can use them for both real and imagined scenarios, and to express all kinds of possibilities and hypothetical situations. If the ‘ if ‘ clause comes first, a comma is usually used. BUT, when the main clause comes first in the sentence, the comma (,) is not necessary. Each expresses a different degree of probability that a situation will occur or would have occurred under certain circumstances.Let’s look at each of these different types of conditional sentences in more detail.Zero conditional sentences express general truths—situations in which one thing There are a couple of things to take note of in the above sentences in which the zero conditional is used. First, when using the zero conditional, the correct tense to use in both clauses is the First conditional sentences are used to express situations in which the outcome is likely (but not guaranteed) to happen in the future. The order of the clauses can change. Present pieces of information that rely on each other:Finally, here’s a chart to help you see the differences between the conditionals.

Conditional sentences are statements discussing known factors or hypothetical situations and their consequences. Complete conditional sentences contain a conditional What Are the Different Types of Conditional Sentences?