Name: Learn English Grammar: Zero Conditional
Uploaded: 2017-12-15T00:37:45.000Z
Duration: 5 min 15 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Present continuous

Hello. We're doing the
zero conditional today.

It's a useful grammatical
structure in English.

Gerund

Perhaps it's used for, particularly to those
who are rules-based people, who like knowing

that A is going to result in B.
My little nephew is like this.

So, we're doing the zero conditional. And this is about
something that is generally true, like a scientific fact.

If I press the toilet button, it flushes.
Okay? "If", condition, result.

So this is in present simple, and the
result also in the present simple.

"If you heat ice, it melts." So it's like
a scientific fact, it's like something...

This always happens in this same way. The
condition always has the same result.

Now, the result, this bit here, it can also be in
the imperative rather than the present simple.

-a place in the southwest of
England-"go to Chagford."

Where I was born. Okay?
It's a great place.

So, it's like "go to", it's an imperative.
I'm telling you to do that.

"If you arrive late to my class again,
you", and then I'm going to need to...

"You will have to go to the head master."
Okay? It's the condition equals the result.

It's always the same. So if you're late, you
have to go to the head master. Okay? Condition,

result, always the same
relationship between the two.

Now, we can have a couple of different, alternative
options here. Instead of "if" we could also

use "when" or "unless". I've written that
unless... You know when... When's talking

about time, obviously. But "unless" means
kind of if not, followed by the condition

and result. Condition
always in the present.

So: "Unless if not he proposes", obviously
that's quite weird, formal English.

The translation would be something like...
Or the simplification:

"If he does not propose to marry you,"-to propose
to marry you. Would you like to marry me?-

"refuse to go on holiday with him again."
Okay? So: "refuse to go", there you've got

Now, we can change the order and put the result
before the condition, and throw in a bit of

"if" and "when" and "unless" right there in
the middle just to mix things up, mix the

bowl up. So, the result
here is at the beginning.

"The boss, my leader, the person
who is in charge is angry"

-again, notice present tense-"when
I dance on my table."

also be replaced by "if" there. "...if I dance
on my table". So, "when" would imply that

I maybe dance on my table quite a lot. But
"if", I'm so scared of my boss that I don't

want to dance on my table. And "unless" would
change it, so you'd have to have probably

"The boss is angry
unless I stay seated."

Okay, so let's just have another quick recap. Something
that's generally true, like a scientific fact, like:

"If I cross the road without
looking, I get knocked over."

Sorry, that's what the traffic's
like in London. Pay attention.

Look to your left, look
to your right before it's

safe to go. "If", condition, result. Present
simple, present simple unless we're using

the imperative. "You will go to
Chagford if you visit Devon."

meaning changing the positive,
negative affirmation, so:

"Unless he proposes to marry you," blah, blah,
blah, this will be the result. This will always

be the result unless you do this. And then you can
also have the result here and the condition here.

The boss is angry if you
don't do the quiz right now

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Learn English Grammar: Zero Conditional

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