2nd conditional
Usage:
We talk about an imaginary situation. It doesn’t relate to any specific time period.
Form:
If + past simple , would + present simple
In British English, it is possible to use ‚If I was‘ .
In American English only ‚If I were‘ is considered a correct form.
Examples:
If I was/were a manager here, I would make many changes.
(=BUT I am not a manager here)
If I won a lottery, I wouldn’t bother going to work and I would travel all over the world.
(=it’s not very likely I am going to win a lottery)
If they got a house to live in, they wouldn’t stay with her parents.
(= but they haven’t got a house to live in nor money to buy it)
If she married me, I would be the luckiest man alive!
( =I think she will not marry me, it’s just a wish!)
If the Humankind made contact with an extra-terrestrial life form, it would change our view on our place in the universe.
(= it is not probable that we ever make contact with any life forms on other planets)
We can also use this structure:
Was/Were I any very good with computers, I would work as a hacker.
Was she nicer to me, we still would be friends today.
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