Question

If you ________ (to be) more attentive you _________ (to pass) the exam. would be/passed were/passed Conditionals are sentences with two clauses – an ‘if clause’ and a main clause. The two parts can be in any order. When the ‘would part’ is second, you need a comma.The second conditional is used to talk about unreal, unlikely, impossible or imaginary things, event sor situations. The structure is usually if + past simple (the hypothetical or unlikely part) and would/could/might + infinitive (the possible result of the imaginary situation): If I had lots of money, I would travel all around the world.; If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen. Therefore, we use the Second conditional structure for unreal possibility.The test sentence ‘If you ________ (to be) more attentive you _________ (to pass) the exam.’ describes an unlikely situation. It is meant that ‘You haven’t been attentive all this time, that is why I doubt that you will pass your exam.’. The speaker is still thinking about the future possibility, but it is imaginary – I imagine that you could become more attentive, but it is unlikely. In this case the question between the first and the second conditional is often a question of the speaker’s attitude to the situation.

Accepted Answer

were/would pass would be/would pass a

Question	If you ________ (to be) more attentive you _________ (to pass) the exam.
A	were/would pass
B	would be/passed
C	would be/would pass
D	were/passed
Answer	a
Remark	Conditionals are sentences with two clauses – an ‘if clause’ and a main clause. The two parts can be in any order. When the ‘would part’ is second, you need a comma.The second conditional is used to talk about unreal, unlikely, impossible or imaginary things, event sor situations. The structure is usually if + past simple (the hypothetical or unlikely part) and would/could/might + infinitive (the possible result of the imaginary situation): If I had lots of money, I would travel all around the world.; If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. We are thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen. Therefore, we use the Second conditional structure for unreal possibility.The test sentence ‘If you ________ (to be) more attentive you _________ (to pass) the exam.’ describes an unlikely situation. It is meant that ‘You haven’t been attentive all this time, that is why I doubt that you will pass your exam.’. The speaker is still thinking about the future possibility, but it is imaginary – I imagine that you could become more attentive, but it is unlikely. In this case the question between the first and the second conditional is often a question of the speaker’s attitude to the situation.

I Attentive Pass Conditional Imaginary Structure Result Thinking