Here is a free lesson plan on the second conditional for ESL/EFL teachers. The lesson starts with a presentation of the grammar structure, and is then followed by some ideas on how to get your students to practise it. You don't need to do all the exercises consecutively over one lesson, some of them can be used to revise (or review, if you're American) the second conditional in follow up lessons. You will find a free downloadable printout of this lesson at the bottom of this page.
These are things which are:
The grammar structure for the second conditional is as follows:
|If +||Past Simple +||would,could,might|
|or Continuous||+ infinitive|
|If||there was a cheap holiday,||I would buy it.|
|If||I won the lottery,||I would give 50% to charity.|
|If||you made me a cake,||I would eat it.|
|If||brussel sprouts were delicious,||I would eat more of them eat it.|
|If||the earth were flat,||we could fall of the edge.|
|If||the iPad were free,||I would have one.|
|Would,might,could +||if +||Past Simple|
|+ infinitive||or Continuous|
|I would go to Australia||if||it wasn't so far away.|
|I would eat that muffin||if||it were mine.|
|I would live in a castle||if||I were rich.|
The correct form of the verb ‘to be’ in the if-clause, is were, but was is also possible, and is often used in spoken English e.g. I would eat that muffin, if it were/was mine.
The Second Conditional is used for giving advice:
Get the students to fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verb. You will find the answers in the Teacher's Notes in the Downloadable Lesson at the bottom of this page.
Write the following phrases onto flashcards:
Place the flashcards face down on the table, and get the students to pick one up, and complete the sentence in their own words.
Give the students blank flashcards. On each of their flashcards they need to write the first clause of a second conditional sentence. Once they have all completed this task, place the flashcards face down on the table. The students need to take it in turns to pick one up, and complete the sentences in their own words.
You are going to give the students the first clause of one second conditional sentence. The first student has to complete that sentence in their own words. The next student has to take the second clause from the first student's sentence, and change it into the first clause of another sentence, and complete that sentence. The next student continues in the same way e.g.
I would be happy if ……
Some potential starters:
Meet Jane and John. They are about to get married, but John has arrived at the wedding looking like this. Get the students to make sentences describing what John would have to do, to make Jane happier about his appearance e.g.
Get the students to answer the following questions:
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