Conditionals scare students to death. They seem complicated and difficult to understand. But as I explain, they only seem to be like this. In fact, they are quite simple and easy to comprehend.
In this post, I will try to keep things as simple as possible. I will deal only with one type of conditional – the second conditional. At the beginning of the post, there is a song that clearly demonstrates the form and the meaning of the grammar. Then there is a mind map and another explanation of the meaning.
Second conditional – song
First, ask your students to listen and complete the following lyrics. Then ask them to listen and sing the song. In this way they will improve their listening and pronunciation, and they will notice the form of the second conditional.
Second conditional song lyrics
Second conditional song:
Second Conditional – Infographic
Display the following mind map and ask the students to read the sentences. Then elicit the form of the second conditional.
Draw the students’ attention to the pictures at the bottom of the page and explain the usage of the second conditional. It is used for imagined situations.
Second Conditional – Links
You can find some excellent materials for teaching the second conditional at the British Council site.
There is a nice explanation of this grammar at the BBC Learning English site too.