Question

If I __________ (to meet) Johnny Depp I _________ (to ask) for the autograph. would meet/asked met/would ask 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. As the test answers consist only of ‘met/asked’ and ‘would meet/would ask’ variants, the test sentence ‘If I __________ (to meet) Johnny Depp I _________ (to ask) for the autograph.’ describes an unlikely situation. It means that ‘I haven’t met Johnny Depp yet, that is why I haven’t asked for his address.’. The speaker is still thinking about the future possibility, but it is imaginary – I imagine that I could meet Johnny Depp and ask for his autograph, 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. As for the test ANSWER, we are to choose ANSWER 4 (met/would ask).

Accepted Answer

would meet/would ask met/asked d

Question	If I __________ (to meet) Johnny Depp I _________ (to ask) for the autograph.
A	would meet/would ask
B	would meet/asked
C	met/asked
D	met/would ask
Answer	d
Remark	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. As the test answers consist only of ‘met/asked’ and ‘would meet/would ask’ variants, the test sentence ‘If I __________ (to meet) Johnny Depp I _________ (to ask) for the autograph.’ describes an unlikely situation. It means that ‘I haven’t met Johnny Depp yet, that is why I haven’t asked for his address.’. The speaker is still thinking about the future possibility, but it is imaginary – I imagine that I could meet Johnny Depp and ask for his autograph, 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. As for the test ANSWER, we are to choose ANSWER 4 (met/would ask).

I Johnny Depp Conditional Imaginary Test Meet Meet/Would