Approaching and Introducing the Second Conditional

Usually, the need to teach the second conditional comes about during conversation, something like this:
Me: So, what did you do yesterday?
Student: I was really busy yesterday
Me: Are you normally busy?
Student: !eah
Me: I" you had more "ree time, how would you spend it?
I" you want to introduce the second conditional speci"ically #"or e$ample, "or an e$am, or i" you know
that your student#s% don&t use it properly%, you can talk about the lottery and use the "irst video #see
below% 'ere are a couple o" (uestions that you can ask that lead into the key (uestion:
) *+o you play the lottery?, )- "ollow up (uestions
) *'ow much money can you win playing the lottery?, )- "ollowup (uestions
'ave a little conversation about this, and then ask the key (uestion:
) *I" you won the lottery, what would you buy?,
It is the (uestion that most students are "amiliar with when it comes to the second conditional, and
usually they can answer this one .hen they can&t answer this, they usually understand the concept
behind it
I" not, go through the di""erent "orms used #i" / past simple, would 0 would / i" past simple% and that
they can be reversible 1or e$ample:
) I" I won the lottery, I would buy a new car
) I would buy a new car i" I won the lottery
2ow it&s time to talk about when it can be used be"ore going into more e$amples
.hen to use it
3he ne$t stage is to e$plain when the second conditional can be used: "or imaginary 4 unreal situations
1rom the "irst e$ample, winning the lottery is an unreal situation, there"ore, we use the second
conditional #with would% to talk about what we would do i" that situation were true
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3he I" clause uses the 5ast Simple At this point, I usually ask my student to complete some sentences,
and here are some e$amples:
) I" I had more time, I6
) I would be really happy i"6
) I" I could travel anywhere in the world, I
3ry and think about more (uestions that are speci"ic to your students and correct where necessary
Introduce a video
2ow is a great time to introduce a song #or this can be used as a warm up along with the talk about the
lottery% 3he "ollowing song by the 7arenaked 8adies, "its per"ectly with this lesson plan It&s called, *I"
I had a Million +ollars,
A"ter your student has watched the video, go over some o" the lyrics 7ut "irst, introduce the
contracted "orm used in the song #I&d 9 I would% A good way to lead into this is to ask your students i"
they noticed the contracted "orm, or by asking them to look out "or it be"ore the video
2e$t ask, *.hat would the singer o" the song buy or do i" he had a million dollars?, 3here are lots o"
e$amples in the video, including: a house, a car #:)Car%, a tree)"ort #with a "ridge%, a "ur coat #not a real
one%, an e$otic pet #llama or emu%, ;ohn Merrick&s remains, cra<y elephant bones, your love, e$pensive
ketchups, art, and a monkey
Some good conversations can result "rom this video
'ow it is used "or advice and was )- were
A"ter you have gone through the video, put the "ollowing into Skype or on the board:
) I" I ======= 5resident, I would6
Most make the mistake here o" putting in was instead o" were Show your students that was )- were
when using the second conditional 3his is great to lead into the ne$t use o" the second conditional:
Using it "or advice> here is an e$ample:
) I wouldn&t do that i" I were you
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At this stage I usually e$plain that this can be used "or advice, similar to using should I then put some
problems into Skype and ask my students to answer them starting with, I" I were you6
Use problems that are speci"ic to your student, but some general ones are relationship problems #*I
think my boy"riend is cheating on me,% or work problems #*I need a pay rise,% I then go on to e$plain
that in most situations, the I" clause #i" I were you% is omitted
Using ?could& and ?might& instead o" ?would&
I also like to point out that we can use could and might in place o" would 3o do this, I give my students
the "ollowing sentences and ask them to e$plain the di""erence
) I" I had more time, I could start learning the guitar
) I" I had more time, I would start learning the guitar
+o the same with other sentences that are speci"ic to the student
A little practice
3his can be done at anytime during the lesson, but it is a good idea to @ust do a "ew e$ercises to make
sure that your students understand how to "orm the second conditional 3he "ollowing (uestions can be
done in class
I always ask my students to read out the sentences instead o" writing them out 3hese can also be given
"or homework I then try and ask similar (uestions related to my student a"ter each (uestion
Comparison with the "irst conditional
+epending on what you have already taught, or what the student already knows, you can go into the
comparison between the "irst and second conditionals 3he best way to do this is "irstly show some
e$amples o" the "irst conditional, e$plaining that this is used "or real situations, and then show them
the "ollowing sentences, asking what makes them di""erent
) I" I won the lottery, I&d buy a car
) I" I win the lottery tonight, I&ll buy a car tomorrow
In the second sentence, the person has a ticket and is playing the lottery, while in the "irst e$ample,
the person is imagining what it would be like to win the lottery
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1urther videos and homework
1or homework, I usually give a couple more videos and set a writing e$ercise 3he "irst video is an
interview with di""erent people asking them what they would buy i" they won the lottery, and the
second video has lots o" songs that use the second conditional:
5roblems with pronunciation
A lot o" students have problems with pronouncing would and it sometimes sounds like they are
saying good 3o get around this problem I ask my students to say the "ollowing words:
) .in
) .ing
) .ood
) .ould
Usually the problem isn&t the w sound, but con"usion about how would is pronounced 5ractice the
di""erence between would and good until your students can say them both clearly
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