B2 First · Grammar · Pattern 4 of 10

Conditionals: second, third, mixed

Unreal present, unreal past and the mixed form, plus the words that replace 'if' — unless, as long as, provided.

8 transformations, one at a time
Explained the moment you answer
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Key words to expect: UNLESS, WOULD, HAD, WERE, LONG, PROVIDED

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You won't pass the exam if you don't study harder.

UNLESS

You won't pass the exam harder.

What the item is really checking

A conditional transformation gives you a real situation and asks for the imagined opposite. 'I didn't take an umbrella, so I got wet' is a fact; 'If I had taken an umbrella, I wouldn't have got wet' is the same fact seen from the other side. The test is whether you can flip the polarity — negative fact, positive condition — and choose the tense that matches when it happened.

The three forms map onto time. Second conditional for a present or general unreality ('if I were taller'), third for a past one ('if I had taken'), and mixed when the condition is past but the result is present ('if he had gone to university, he would be a doctor now'). The word 'now' in the second sentence is the signal for a mixed form, and it is there on purpose.

Where the marks go

'Unless'. It means 'if … not', so the verb after it is positive: 'unless you study harder'. Writing 'unless you don't study' doubles the negative and says the opposite of the original. This single item is probably the most frequently lost mark in the whole pattern.

The mixed conditional. Candidates see 'had gone' and reach for 'would have been' automatically; the 'now' at the end of the sentence has already told them the result is present, so 'would be' is the answer. Reading the whole second sentence before writing is what saves it.

How to work it out under time

Decide when the condition happened and when the result happens — they need not be the same time. Past condition takes 'had' + participle; present takes the past simple ('were' after 'if I'). Past result takes 'would have' + participle; present result takes 'would' + verb.

Then flip the polarity. Whatever the original sentence said really happened, the condition says the opposite. If the original was negative, the condition is positive, and the result flips with it.