First Conditional
for real possibility
We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
| if | condition | result |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | will + base verb | |
| If | it rains, | I will stay at home. |
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the Present Simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use will + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen.
Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [if condition result] and [result if condition]?):
| if | condition | result |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | will + base verb | |
| If | I see Mary, | I will tell her. |
| If | Tara is free tomorrow, | he will invite her. |
| If | they do not pass their exam, | their teacher will be sad. |
| If | it rains tomorrow, | will you stay at home? |
| If | it rains tomorrow, | what will you do? |
| result | if | condition |
|---|---|---|
| will + base verb | Present Simple | |
| I will tell Mary | if | I see her. |
| He will invite Tara | if | she is free tomorrow. |
| Their teacher will be sad | if | they do not pass their exam. |
| Will you stay at home | if | it rains tomorrow? |
| What will you do | if | it rains tomorrow? |