Rewrite the following sentences as conditionals. The first one is shown as an example

Example: Eric was with us so we didn’t get lost.

If Eric hadn’t been with us, we would have got lost.

1 We got soaking wet on Sunday and now we’ve all got colds. If ….

2 I’m afraid I don’t know so I can’t tell you. If ….

3 Because the train was 10 minutes late I managed to catch it. I ….

4 The weather could be bad on Saturday, in which case we’ll have to cancel the barbecue. We ….

5 I’m living in Italy because I got married to an Italian. I ….

6 Sorry I didn’t phone you but I lost the bit of paper with your number on it. I ….

7 We don’t get on very well because she’s so aggressive. If ….

8 There’s the possibility of a train strike on Monday so I might not be able to come. If ….

9 We’ve got a broken window because you and your friends were playing football in the back yard! We ….

10 They’re so reserved that I speak to them very infrequently. I ….

11 I missed the end of the film so I don’t know who the murderer was. If ….

12 Jimmie’s father might buy him a new bike; it depends on him passing his exams. If ….

13 As we’d already seen the film we didn’t go to the cinema. We ….

14 Zoe tripped and fell just as she was about to win the race. Zoe ….

 

Exercise 6

Complete the sentences to express your thoughts for each of the following situations. Look at the example given.

Example: Your dream is to be able to surf.

I wish I could surf!

 

1 Your colleague keeps interrupting you when you’re speaking. I’d rather you...............

2 It’s ten to nine and your sister has to be at the station by nine! Come on, it’s time you...........

3 You lost your temper at work this morning and now you’re sorry. I wish I............

4 Your brother is pretending not to have seen his old girlfriend. Why are you acting as though............

5 You think your friend might lose his job and he should think about this possibility. But suppose you............

6 A friend has rather stupidly given your phone number to an insurance agent. I’d rather you............

7 Someone who’s rather wealthy is always complaining about having no money. Oh, stop talking as if you.............

8 You’re depressed because you have to go back to work tomorrow. If only I............

9 A passenger on a boat stopped you from falling overboard by holding on to your belt! If he.............

10 The cold, cloudy British weather is getting you down. I really wish..............

11 You dream of being rich and travelling round the world in your own plane. If I.............

 

Exercise 6

Open the brackets

 

1 If you ………. (find) a skeleton in the cellar, don’t mention it to anyone.

2 If you pass you examination, we ………. (have) a celebration.

3 What ……….(happen) if I press this button?

4 I should have voted for her if I ………. (have) a vote then.

5 If you go to Paris, where ………. (you stay)?

6 If someone offered to buy you one of those rings, which ………..(you choose)?

7 The flight may be cancelled if the fog ………. (get) any thicker.

8 If the milkman ………. (come), tell him to leave two pints.

9 Someone ………. (sit) on your glasses if you leave them there.

10 You would play better bridge if you ………. (not talk) so much.

11 What ………. (I do) if I hear the burglar alarm?

12 If you ………. (read) the instructions carefully, you wouldn’t have answered the wrong question.

13 I could repair the roof myself if I ………. (have) a long ladder.

14 Unless they turn that radio off, I ………. (go) mad.

15 If you were made redundant, what ………. (you do)?

16 We’ll have a long way to walk if we ………. (run) out of petrol here.

17 If you shake that bottle of port, it ………. (not be) fit to drink.

18 I’ll probably get lost unless he ………. (come) with me.

19 You ………. (not have) so many accidents if you drove more slowly.

20 If you ………. (wear) a false beard, nobody would have recognised you.

21 If she ……… (leave) the fish there, the cat will get it.

22 Unless they leave a lamp beside that hole in the road, somebody ………. (fall) into it.

23 You’ll get pneumonia if you ………. (not change) your wet clothes.

24 If I had known that you couldn’t eat octopus, I ………. (not buy) it.

25 If they ………. (hang) that picture lower, people would be able to see it.

26 She ………. (be) able to walk faster if her shoes hadn’t such high heels.

27 I ………. (bring) you some beer if I had known that you were thirsty.

28 If you had touched that electric cable, you ………. (be) electrocuted.

29 If the story hadn’t been true, the newspaper……….. (not print) it.

30 I ………. (not buy) things on the instalment system if I were you.

31 Dial 999 if you ………. (want) Police, Ambulance, or Fire Brigade.

32 You ………. (not be) any use to me unless you learn to type.

33 If anyone attacked me, my dog ………. (jump) at his throat.

34 If he were in, he ………. (answer) the phone.

35 The ship would have run aground if the pilot ………. (make) one mistake.

36 I shouldn’t have taken your umbrella if I ………. (know) that it was the only one you had.

 

Exercise 7

Open the brackets.

 

1 I’ve hung out the clothes.It’s lovely and sunny;if it ………. (stay) like this, they ………. (be) dry in two hours.

2 French is essential in this job. All the telephonists speak it.If they ……… (not know) French, they ………. (not understand) half the callers.

3 ”How did you do in the car rally?” “We came in last actually but only because we got lost. If we ………. (not get) lost, we ………. (come) in somewhere in the middle. We certainly ………. (not be) last.”

4 ”I wasn’t really surprised that we got lost because I knew that the navigator couldn’t map-read.” “But if you ………. (know) that, why ………. (you take) him as navigator?”

5 This flat ………. (be) all right if the pople above us ………. (not be) so noisy.

6 A group of spectators, including myself, left the stand just before the end of the game. When we were half way down the stairs, a goal was scored and there was a great cheer from the spectators.If there ………. (not be) a goal, the crowd ………. (not cheer).

7 If the crowd ………. (not cheer), we ………. (not run) back up the stairs to see what had happened.

8 If we ………. (not run) back, we ………. (not crash) into the rest of the spectators on their way down, and there ………. (not be) this frightful accident.

9 If the pain ………. (return), you’d better take another pill.

10 If you aren’t going to live in the house, why ………. (you not sell) it? If I ………. (have) a house I couldn’t use, I ………. (sell) it at once.

11 ”No, I didn’t know any Russian at that time.”But if you ………. (not know) Russian, why ………. (you offer) to give him Russian lessons?” “Because I knew that he ………. (refuse). He always rejected my offers.”

12 Tell him to bring his bicycle inside. If he ………. (leave) it outside, someone ………. (steal) it.

13 Why do people always wear dark clothes at night? If pedestrians ………. (wear) light-coloured clothes, drivers ………. (see) them much more easily.

14 She must have loved him very much because she waited for him for fifteen years. If she ………. (not love) him, she ………. (not wait) so long.

15 He looked so small and weak that nobody asked him to do anything. If he ………. (look) strong, he ………. (be) expected to dig all day like everyone else.

16 ”The government are talking of pulling the village down to make room for an airport.” “If they ………. (start) doing it, the village people ………. (resist).”

17 If you are catching an early train tomorrow, you ………. (like) to have breakfast at 7.00.

18 We’ll have to break the ice on the pond: otherwise the ducks ……… (not be) able to swim. And if they ………. (not be) able to swim, they ………. (not be) able to get food.

19 When he left school, he became a fisherman. His family didn’t like it at all. They ………. (be) much happier if he ………. (become) a grengrocer like his father.

20 They still say that if he ………. (go) into the greengrocery business when he left school, he ………. (be) comfortably off now instead of being poor.

21 But he say that if he ………. (have) his life again, he ………. (make) the same choice.

22 So many parcels and no baskets!If I ………. (know) that we were going to buy so much, I ………. (bring) a basket.

23 No one bathes here. The water is heavily polluted. If you ………. (bathe) in it, you ……… (be) ill for a fortnight.

24 ”I can hear the speaker all right, but I ………. (can) se him too.” “If he ………. (stand) on a barrel, we all ………. (see) him and that ……… (be) much better.”

25 Look at poor Tom trying to start his car by hand again! If I ………. (be) Tom, I ………. (get) a new battery.

26 I expect you’ll see Jack at the lecture tonight. If you ………. (do), you please ………. (remind) him about tomorrow’s meeting.

27 The headmaster decided that Peter was the culprit and expelled him from the school. A more intelligent man ………. (realise) that Peter couldn’t have been guilty. (If the headmaster ………. (be) more intelligent, he ……….)

28 But I blame the real culprit even more. If he ………. (admit) his guilt, Peter ………. (not be) expelled.

29 The only thing I haven’t got is a balcony. If I ………. (have) a balcony, I ………. (grow) plants in pots. Then my flat ………. (be) perfect!

30 ”Jack rang while you were out.” “Oh dear! If I ………. (know) he was going to ring, I ………. (stay) at home.”

31 My unmarried friends are always telling me how to bring up my children. I sometimes think that if they ………. (have) children, they ………. (make) just as many mistakes as I do.

32 (At a cinema) Ann: Don’t worry. They get married in the end.

33 Mary:Then you’ve seen it before! If you ………. (tell) me that, we ………. (go) to something else!

34 Be careful about the time. If you ……… (spend) too long on the first question, you ………. (not have) enough time to do the others properly.

35 We had a lot of trouble putting the tent up. If it ………. (not be) so windy, perhaps it ………. (not be) quite so difficult.

36 Ann (sitting beside her open fire): I love open fires; if I ………. (have) nothing but a radiator to sit beside, I ………. (get) quite depressed.

37 Lucy, a student at a residential college: Couldn’t I leave the hostel and get a flat, mother?

38 Mother: No, you couldn’t. I know very well what ………. (happen) if you ………. (have) a flat. You ……… (play) the guitar all night and ………. (miss) your classes in the morning; then you ………. (fail) your exams and ………. (have) to repeat the year. And you ………. (not feed) yourself properly and ………. (get) run down. And then you ………. (catch) some infection and ………. (die) of it, and we ………. (have) to leave this district as the neighbours ………. (keep) saying that we had caused your death by letting you have your own way!

 

 

Additional Exercises

 

Exercise 1

Open the brackets

 

1 It’s just struck midnight. It’s high time we ………. (leave)!

2 If only we ………. (have) a phone! I’m tired of queuing outside the public phone box.

3 You ………. (have) better take off your wet shoes.

4 He walks as if he ………. (have) a wooden leg.

5 He talks as if he ………. (do) all the work himself, but in fact Tom and I did most of it.

6 Father: I’ve supported you all through university. Now I think it’s time you ………. (begin) to support yourself.

7 I wish I ………. (know) what is wrong wih my car.

8 It looks like rain: you ………. (have) better take a coat.

9 I wish I ………. (ask) the fishmonger to clean these fish. (I’m sorry I didn’t ask him.)

10 It’s time we ……… (do) something to stop road accidents.

11 The cheese looks as if rats ………. (nibble) it.

12 It’s high time they ………. (mend) this road.

13 He always talks as though he ………. (address) a public meeting.

14 He treats us as if we ………. (be) all idiots.

15 Wife: I’d liketo get a job.

Husband:I’d much rather you ………. (stay) at home and ………. (look) after the house.

16 If you ………. (tie) the boat up, it wouldn’t have drifted away.

17 I wish you ………. (not give) him my phone number. (I’m sorry you gave it to him.)

18 If only he ………. (know) then that the disease was curable!

19 Suppose you ………. (not know) where your next meal was coming from?

20 You talk as though it ………. (be) a small thing to leave your country for ever.

21 I hate driving. I’d much rather you ………. (drive).

22 If only I ………. (be) insured! (But I wasn’t insured.)

23 If you ………. (not take) those photograph, we wouldn’t have been arrested.

24 I wish transistor radios never ………. (be) invented.

25 If only I ………. (keep) my mouth shut! (I said something which made matters much worse.)

26 ”I’ll pay you by cheque monthly.” “I’d rather you ………. (pay) me cash weekly.”

27 ”When someone says something to me, I translate it into French, and then I think of a reply in French, and then translate it into English and say it.” “It’s high time you ………. (stop) doing all this translation and ………. (start) thinking in English.

28 ”I said “Sunday”. “I wish you ………. (not say) Sunday. We’ll never be ready by then.”

29 ”But I told you what to do.” “I know you did.If only I ………. (take) your advice!”

30 A flower pot fell off the balcony on the head of a man who was standing below. It was most unfortunate that he happened to be standing just there. If he ………. (stand) a foot to the right or left, he’d have been unharmed.

31 That man has brought us nothing but trouble. I wish I never ……… (set) eyes on him.

32 ”Can I take your best umbrella?” “I’d rather you ………. (take) the other one.”

33 If you ………. (have) a peep hole in your door, you would have seen who was standing outside and kept the door shut.

34 I wish I ……….. (not try) to repair it. I only made it worse.

35 If I ……… (not have) rubber gloves on, I would have been electrocuted.

36 He looks as though he never ………. (get) a square meal, but in fact his wife feeds him very well.

Exercise 2

Open the brackets

 

1 ”If only we ………. (have) a car! Life ………. (be) much more pleasant. Today, for instance, I ………. (like) to have driven into the country to se and hear the spring. Don’t you think it’s time you ……….. (buy) a car and I ……….. (learn) to drive it?” “It ………. (be) nice to have a car if it ………. (not be) so expensive. The trouble is that I ………. (have) to give up a lot of things I now ……… (enjoy).”

2 Denis is only a junior employee in this firm, but he behaves as if he ……… (run) it. It’s time someone ………. (put) him in his proper place. I ………. (do) it myself, but the trouble is that he ………. (not pay) any attention to what I ……….. (say).

3 If we stayed here until we ………. (finish) all this work, we ……… (be) here until midnight. Suppose we then ……… (discover) that we ……… (be) all alone in this huge building. ………. (you not be) frightened? I ………. (leave) before it ………. (get) dark.

4 If only you ……….. (stop) worrying about what is going to happen! It’s almost as if you ………. (think) you ………. (can) change things by worrying. But you ………. (cannot). Suppose I ………. (worry) like that when my husband ………. (be) so ill last year. It ………. (not do) any good, ………. it?

5 Would you please pay a little more attention when I ………. (speak)? You behave as if everything I say ………. (be) rubbish, which I can assure you it ……….. (not be). I would rather you ……….. (leave) the lecture room altogether than ………. (have) you sitting there yawning your head off.

6 It’s about time Denis ……….. (learn) some table manners. I would never get up from the table before others ………. (finish), would you? And would you stick your finger in the soup to see if it ………. (be) warm enough? And supposing we all ………. (help) ourselves to everything we ………. (want) without offering it to others first. What ………. (happen)? The table ……….. (become) a feeding trough.

7 It looks as if we ………. (have) a long, difficult committee meeting tomorrow. I am sorry your boss ………. (come). It ………. (be) easier if he ………. (not do). Then we ………. (finish) by six o’clock, but as it is we ………. (be) there until nine. I ………. (give) a prize to anyone who managed to stop your boss talking so much!

8 I wish you ………. (not laugh) about the accident. Suppose you ………. (hit) the other car.You ………. (not sit) here now. Even if you ………. (not be) killed, you ………. (be) badly injured.

9 ” ……….. you rather I ………. (take) my holiday in June next year instead of later? If I ………. (do), you ………. (can) have their school holidays.” “I ………. (be) most grateful if you ………. (do). It ………. (be) very nice if the whole family ………. (can) spend its holidays together for once. It ………. (be) a long time since we ………. (do) so.”

10 Listen, children! I ………. (punish) whoever ………. (be) late for class tomorrow, whatever excuse they ………. (have). It’s not as if I ………. (not warn) you many times before about unpunctuality, and so if anyone ………. (be) late again, they ………. (know) what to expect.

11”Good heavens! Is anything wrong? You look as though you ………. (see) a ghost!” “If I ………. to tell you that I have, ………. (you believe) me?” “No. I ………. (not).I ………. (not believe) in ghosts. If anyone told me he ………. (see) a ghost, I ………. (tell) him he only ………. (think) he ………. (see) one and that he ………. better pull himself together.”

 

Exercise 3

Open the brackets

 

1 Norma isn’t happy with her life. If she ………. (listen) to her mother’s advice, she ………. (stay) at school and ………. (go) on to university. She ………. (can find) a good job if she ………. (get) a degree. Norma hates the job she is doing now. She thinks she ………. (go) crazy if she ………. (stay) there much longer. If she ………. (be) offered another job, she ………. (take) it immediately. In fact, she ………. (leave) if she ………. (can afford) to, but she can’t. Life ………. (be) easier if she ………. (not have) two children to support.

2 Bob was getting very bored of lying in his hospital bed, so he was quite happy to see his Uncle Hamish come into the room. “Hello Booby! shouted Hanish. “How are you?” “I ………. (be) better if I ………. (not lie) in this hospital,”grumbled Bob. “Oh, cheer up!” said Hamish. “You ………. (have) a negative attitude too if you ………. (be) stuck in this boring room with no TV for 24 hours a day!” “Well, you’ve no one to blame but yourself,” said Hamish.”If you ………. (not be) driving so fast, you ………. (not crash) into that tree.” “Oh no, Uncle Hamish. Don’t say that. If one more person ………. (say) that to me, I swear I ………. (punch) them,” said Bob. “Now, now Bobby! If I ………. (be) you, I ………. (be) more polite to my visitors. Ypu’re going to be in here for a few weeks,and if you ………. (be) rude to people, they ………. (not come) to see you,” warned Hamish. “I’m sorry,” Bob apologised. “I promise I ………. (be) polite as long as you ………. (not mention) my careless doing again.” “OK Bobby,” agred Hamish. “I’m sorry too. I ……….. (mention) it if I ………. (know) how upset it makes you.”

3 ”If you don’t work harder at school, you never ………. (get) a good job.” I remember my parents saying these words to me when I was at school. If I ………. (listen) to them then, I ………. (not become) what I am now. I ………. (be) so much more if I ……….. (try) harder.I haven’t always been a tramp actually; when I left school, I had a job as a milkman and if the hours ………. (be) easier, I ………. (do) it for much longer, but I hated getting up so early in the morning. When I lost my job, I ………. (cannot pay) the rent, so my landlord said that if I ………. (not get) another job, I would be on the streets; and before I knew it I was. I ………. (can get) another job if I ………. (want) to, but at first I quite enjoyed the freedom of the outdoor life.If you sleep out in summer, it ………. (not be) too bad, but in winter it’s awful. If I ………. (can change) anything about my life now, I ………. (get) in touch with my family again, even though I know they would only say, “If you ………. (work) harder at school, you ………. (not get) yourself in this situation.”

 

Exercise 4