Must вЂ“ can вЂ“ could вЂ“ may вЂ“ might вЂ“ should Their meanings come in many вЂshades of grey.вЂ™ T his is because they are never вЂblackвЂ™ and вЂwhiteвЂ™. Modals are a nightmare for learners of English. A modal auxiliary modifies the meaning of the verb. We can use the followingmodalauxiliary verbs although the degree of possibility varies according to whichВ oneВ we use. Q) Can we use other auxiliary verbs with thefirst conditional?ДЄ) Yes, we can. I wonвЂ™t take an umbrella unless it rains = IвЂ™ll take an umbrella only if it rains. = You never know, I may need to call you. IвЂ™ll take my phone in case I need to call you. When -as soon as вЂ“ before вЂ“ after вЂ“ in case вЂ“ until вЂ“ unless Example: If he doesnвЂ™t arrive soon, we wonвЂ™t have time to catc h the 9.30 train. If I donвЂ™t go, I wonвЂ™t see him If I donвЂ™t go, I wonвЂ™t see him Q) How do I make the negative of the first conditional?ДЄ) Just put the negative of the present simple on theВ вЂifвЂ™ clause and the negative ofВ вЂwillвЂ™В on theВ result of the condition I think I have a possibility to win because perhaps I have bought many lottery tickets. If I win the lottery, I will buy a new house. There are good chances it can snow in the speakerвЂ™s home town or city, but it still might not.We use theВ вЂifВ clause + theВ present simple tense.В This clause is theВ conditionВ We use the future simple tense,В вЂwill + infinitiveвЂ™В to indicate the result of the conditionДЄ) You use the first conditional to speak about a possible situation in the future. When using the 1st conditional, the sentence describes something that can really happen in the future of the current situation. If the temperature drops to zero degrees, it will snow (here). When using the zero conditional, the sentence describes what is generally known to be true all the time, for instance, scientific rules. If the temperature drops to zero degrees, it snows (in general). Compare the difference in meaning in the examples below: In summary, zero conditionals happen 100% of the time and 1st conditionals can happen and are usually very likely to happen.

Summary of zero and first conditional structures OR You must wear a helmet if you ride a motorbike. If you ride a motorbike, you must wear a helmet. OR The present should arrive before his birthday if she orders it now. If she orders the present now, it should arrive before his birthday. OR You might win if you buy a lottery ticket. If you buy a lottery ticket you might win. OR The children can play outside if they finish their homework. If the children finish their homework, they can play outside. Modal verbs change the certainty of the result.

We can also use modals like вЂњcan,вЂќ вЂњmay / might,вЂќ вЂњmust,вЂќ and вЂњshould,вЂќ as well as imperatives (verbs giving instructions) in the result part of the sentence instead of вЂњwillвЂќ. Using other modal verbs instead of вЂњwillвЂќ in the 1st conditional You can find information on tenses and other grammar structures in our grammar index: These conditionals mainly use present and future tenses and are either 100% certain or quite likely to happen.

In this article we will focus on zero and first conditional structures. + Д %- impossible, canвЂ™t happen because in the past. They can go from 100% certain, if the condition is true the result always happens, to completely impossible (the result was maybe possible in the past but canвЂ™t happen at all now). We use these structures depending on how probable the condition and its result are. There are different types of conditionals, namely zero conditionals, first conditionals, second conditionals and third conditionals.

First conditional modal verbs exercises