Second conditional: imagining a different present or future

The idea

Use if + past simple, would + base verb. Could can describe an imagined ability or possibility. Were works with all subjects in hypothetical be clauses, especially If I were you. Was also occurs with singular subjects, particularly in less formal usage.

Examples

• If I had a spare room, I'd turn it into a studio.
• If this desk were smaller, it would fit beside the window.
• If I were you, I'd ask for a written estimate.
• What would you do if you found a sealed envelope?
• If it weren't so windy, we could eat on the balcony.
• She wouldn't need a taxi if the last bus ran later.

Watch out

The past form marks distance from reality here, not an earlier date. In the ordinary pattern, put would in the result, not mechanically after if. Do not assign a fixed probability percentage to this conditional. I'd turn means I would turn, not I had turn.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the correct option. If I had a spare room, I'd ___ it into a studio. (turn / turned)

   Show answer or example answer

   turn

   After would, use base-form turn. The past form belongs in the condition: if I had.

2. Choose the correct option. If this desk were smaller, it would ___ beside the window. (fit / fits)

   Show answer or example answer

   fit

   Modal would takes base-form fit, without third-person -s.

3. Choose the correct option. If it ___ so windy, we could eat outside. (weren't / doesn't)

   Show answer or example answer

   weren't

   Use weren't with the adjective windy in this imagined condition. Doesn't cannot replace a form of be here.

Use it today

Imagine a change to your home and explain its result. Give advice beginning If I were you. Ask a hypothetical question, then contrast one open future plan with a more remote imagined alternative.