Question

If you ________ (to call) me I _________ (to help) you. called/would help called/helped 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, events or 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 called me I would help you.’ (ANSWER 2) describes an unlikely situation. It is meant that ‘You haven’t called me yet that is why I haven’t helped you, but I would like to’. We are still thinking about the future possibility, but it is imaginary – I imagine that it could happen, 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

would call/helped would call/would help b

Question	If you ________ (to call) me I _________ (to help) you.
A	would call/helped
B	called/would help
C	would call/would help
D	called/helped
Answer	b
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, events or 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 called me I would help you.’ (ANSWER 2) describes an unlikely situation. It is meant that ‘You haven’t called me yet that is why I haven’t helped you, but I would like to’. We are still thinking about the future possibility, but it is imaginary – I imagine that it could happen, 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 Conditional Imaginary Structure Result Thinking Condition Called