ALL CONDITIONALS
1ST CONDITIONAL
2ND CONDITIONAL
1ST VS 2ND CONDITIONAL
1ST CONDITIONAL EXAMPLES
MIXED CONDITIONALS
The Zero Conditional is the first of four English Conditionals, and it expresses a present condition in relation to a present result. In my many years of teaching English abroad, I have observed that there are many aspects to the Zero Conditional that have simply gone unexplained by most English Resources. This post will go where most resources have not by taking a deep look at the Zero Conditional, its formation, meaning, and use. By the time you finish this post, you’ll never look at the Zero Conditional again as the forgotten conditional.
This post is only focused on the Zero Conditional; however, if you want to learn all the conditionals together, you can find my Guide to All 4 Conditionals. Additionally, you could skip to the bottom of this post for a link to my online video course on Conditionals 1, 2, and 3.
The Zero Conditional is the Present Conditional
The 4 English Conditionals express conditions against the result according to either the present, past, or future time. The Zero Conditional expresses a present condition against a present result. This is why I often refer to the Zero Conditional as the Present Conditional. Wouldn’t the conditionals be easier to learn if we labeled them by their time rather than by numbers?
The Zero Conditional and its Complex Sentence Structure
English Conditionals fall under a category of complex sentences. It is important to understand the Zero Conditional from this context because the sentence structure itself determines how the speaker intonates the sentence by stressing the main idea.
A complex sentence is comprised of two clauses that are grammatically unequal. This is often apparent when both clauses have different verb tenses. Yet the Zero Conditional usually contains 2 clauses that are both expressed in the Present Simple.
The fact that both clauses might be in the Present Simple doesn’t make the clauses grammatically equal. It is the hierarchy of ideas expressed in the sentence that makes the clauses unequal. For conditional sentences, the result clause is always the main clause compared to the condition clause.
How are Zero Conditional Clauses Grammatically Unequal
The Zero Conditional is grammatically unequal in that the ideas expressed have hierarchy. The result clause of the this Conditional type is the independent (or main) clause whereas the condition clause is subordinate. Since there is hierarchy with a main and subordinate idea, the clauses are grammatically unequal.
Later in this post, I will show you how English sentence grammar often uses a change in the tense to either clause to emphasize the hierarchy of ideas.
How to Form the Zero Conditional
EFL coursebooks often teach you through a grammar box that the Zero Conditional is formed with a Time Conjunction (usually if or when) plus the Present Simple with the result clause also in the Present Simple. For me, this is just the basics.
The Zero Conditional can actually be formed with more Time Conjunctions than just if and when along with the Present Simple, Present Continuous, and Present Perfect Simple in the condition clause.
The Time Conjunction determines the tenses of the Present Condition
English verb tense aspects (simple, continuous, and perfect) express the different ways that verb actions of different clauses relate to each other.
- Present Simple expresses a fact, a generally true situation, a state, or a regularly occurring situation.
- Present Continuous expresses an extended or unfinished action in the present, or occurring at the same time in a sequence.
- Present Perfect expresses an action already finished (first in sequence) in relation to a present situation or state.
Time Conjunctions to Use in the Zero Conditional
It is the Time Conjunction that tells us the relationship of the verbs in each clause. The following time conjunctions can be used in the Zero Conditional and determines the tense of the verb in the condition clause.
- If/When/Unless this situation or state occurs, the result occurs. (TC + Simple | Simple)
- When/While this action is happening, the situation occurs or the state exists. (TC + Continuous | Simple)
- After or Until this action has happened, the second situation or action generally occurs. (TC + Perfect | Simple)
Have a look at the following graphic for examples of these relationships.
Find the Zero Conditional Meaning by Making Inferences
As I had explained in the post on all the English Conditionals, the meaning of the Zero Conditional is best understood through inferences that can be drawn from the sentence.
An Inference is what conclusion you can draw based on what someone has said. You can form an inference from the type 0 sentence by rephrasing each clause in the negative. Basically, if one clause has a verb in the affirmative (positive), it’s inference is negative and vice versa.
Have a look at the following grid of examples to illustrate this.
In the above example, all I did was either make the verb in both clauses negative or change a descriptive word to an antonym (word with the opposite meaning). This is how you draw an inference from a conditional, and it is the key to understanding the conditionals as a communication tool.
You can draw inferences from each conditional; additionally, you will find that the other conditionals (Type 1, 2, and 3) can draw more inferences than the Zero Conditional because we are inferring and speculating about either the past or future.
The Zero Conditional for Habits and Behaviors
At elementary level, every English learner is taught that we use the Present Simple to describe habits or situations that are generally true for us. But what about situations that aren’t generally true?
In my video English lesson on 2 Advanced Tenses to Talk about Routines, I explain that we use the Future Simple (with present meaning) to express present behaviors.
From the grammatical view, a habit is a generally repeated behavior whereas a behavior is one’s response to a specific situation or condition.
Hence, behaviors are situation specific while habits are general.
The Zero Conditional Changes to Express Behavior
Since a behavior is not generally true, we don’t use the Present Simple. We use the Future Simple instead of the Present Simple.
Earlier in this post, I had explained that we can use the verb tense of a clause for emphasis in a complex sentence. The Zero Conditional can emphasize that an action is not generally true by changing the verb tense of the result clause to Future Simple. We do this in two ways:
- When the condition is too narrow or specific to be generally true
- When there are multiple results that could be true.
Use the Future Simple for narrow or specific conditions in the present
Q: What do you do when you have free time?
A: When I have free time, I play sudoku.
In this first example sentence, the condition “when you have free time” is a very broad and general condition. You can have free time in many contexts. Hence, the Zero Conditional uses the Present Simple.
Q: What do you do when you have free time after work?
Comparing the revised question, you notice there are actually two conditions – when you have free time and after work. This condition is much more specific and we are not talking about habits anymore. We are asking about the person’s behavior.
A: When I have free time after work, I’ll probably go to the mall.
In the answer, we will emphasize the result by upgrading the verb tense to the Future Simple (with present meaning).
Use the Future Simple when there are a few possible results
Going back to the original question: What do you do when you have free time? While the question is broad, the answer might be equally broad.
A: When I have free time, I might listen to a podcast, or I’ll probably just play sudoku.
Here, you could use the future simple or the modal verb might. Once again, these future forms don’t contain any future meaning. We only use them to emphasize that the present result isn’t a generally true result (because there are numerous possibilities).
Hopefully, these examples help you to understand that there’s so much more to the Conditional Type-0 than just the Present Simple tense.
The Zero Conditional vs First Conditional
The difference between the Zero Conditional and the First Conditional is that the Zero Conditional presents both a present condition and result (the Present Conditional) whereas the First Conditional expresses both a future condition and result. This means that there is a clear difference between the two conditionals.
Yet there are a couple instances when the Zero Conditional looks like the First Conditional:
- When we emphasize the present result by changing the tense of the result clause (as explained in the previous section)
- When we mix the Zero Conditional and the First Conditional
Don't Confuse Future with Present Meaning for the First Conditional
Future Simple with present meaning. This is one case where the zero conditional looks like the First Conditional because the condition clause is in the Present Simple while the result clause is in the Future Simple.
When I teach this point to my English students in Poland, I jokingly call it the Half (0.5) Conditional.
One use of this is to express predictive behaviors and tendencies.
Predictive Tendencies are not the same as Making Predictions
A tendency is the typical or likely result. An example of this would be:
Ex: My typical English student will be an adult mostly looking to improve his or her conversation skills.
While a prediction will be:
Ex: I think my next English student will be an adult mostly looking to improve his or her conversation skills.
The first example is generalizing about my typical English student whereas the second example predicts some characteristics of my next (future) student. Yet in both cases, the Future Simple was used as the verb tense.
The Mixed Conditional between the Zero and First
Another First Conditional lookalike is when you mix the Zero and the First Conditionals. Since both the Zero and First Conditional share a condition clause in a present tense, a Mixed Conditional can look exactly like a First Conditional sentence.
Ex: If you are in high school today, you will be entering the workforce in the next 3 – 8 years.
In the example sentence, you can see that the condition is a present state (you are in high school today) while the result is a future fact.
Again, this looks like a First Conditional sentence; yet the Mixed Conditional occurs when the condition from one time zone (the present) mixes with the result from another time zone (the past).
Over to You
You can use the Zero Conditional in many practical situations whether it’s general or business English. To get some practice, why don’t you drop a comment to this post with an example sentence expressing one of the following functions and I’ll comment back with a reply?
- Explain a general process
- Express a procedure (how something is done in sequence)
- Give a conditional instruction
Online Video Course: Conditionals 1, 2, 3
Reading is great, but watching is better! If you're interested in learning the First, Second, and Third Conditionals with a short 90-minute video course, check out my online video course on the conditionals here.
