"Conditional" grammar. What a confusing name. I always just call it "If" grammar when I begin to explain it to my students. If I do that, it is much easier to understand. There are many different types of conditional grammar forms, but today we are just going to look at the zero conditional form.
So what is zero conditional grammar used for? Zero conditional is used for things that happen all the time or in predictable situations. For example "If you heat ice, it melts" or "If it rains, the ground gets wet."
Forming zero conditional is easy to do. If + present simple verb structure, present simple verb structure. Lets look at these ten examples:
- If I eat too much, I feel sick.
- If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it boils.
- If the sun shines, the flowers grow.
- If you mix red and yellow paint, you get orange.
- If it rains, the ground gets wet.
- If you leave ice cream in the sun, it melts.
- If you drop a glass, it breaks.
- If you apply heat to ice, it melts.
- If you add sugar to tea, it becomes sweet.
- If you bring a lighter near paper, it catches fire.
So what do you think? Can you try to make zero conditional sentences on your own? Give it a try!
