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A2 · ⑱ If I were
The second conditional and wishes
A past tense used to talk about now — because the past here means distance from reality, not time.
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31questions
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01 · First page · real or unreal
The two conditionals
1
Is it something that may really happen?
sì → first conditional · if + present, will
no → keep going down
2
Is it imaginary, or contrary to the facts right now?
sì → second conditional · if + past, would
no → keep going down
3
Is it advice you are giving from the other person's position?
sì → If I were you, I would…
no → keep going down
4
Are you regretting how things are, without any condition?
sì → I wish + past
no → keep going down
5
Are you saying something should have happened by now?
sì → It's time + past
no → you are probably describing a fact: use the present
second conditional: The second conditional imagines something that is not true now, or is very unlikely: If I had more time, I would learn the piano. The shape is if plus a past tense, then would plus the bare verb — and the whole sentence is about the present.
distance, not time: This is the idea that makes everything else fall into place. The past tense here does not point backwards: it marks the sentence as unreal. English uses the same trick for wishes and for polite requests — the further from the present tense, the further from the facts, or the further from imposing.
I wish: I wish plus a past tense says that the present is not as you would like it: I wish I had more time means I do not have it. It carries a small regret, and it never takes would for your own actions — I wish I could is right, I wish I would is not.
- If I had money, I would travel.
- If I were you, I would wait.
- I wish I had more time.
- She would help if she could.
- It's time we left.
| The shape | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Condition | Result |
| first · real | if + present | will + bare verb |
| second · unreal now | if + past | would + bare verb |
| advice | if I were you | I would + bare verb |
| wish about now | I wish + past | — |
| wish about ability | I wish I could + bare verb | — |
| overdue | it's time + past | — |
Golden rule
Ask whether it can really happen. If it can, use the present after if and will after the comma. If it cannot — because it is imaginary, or simply false right now — step one tense back: past after if, would after the comma. The step backwards is the whole grammar of unreality in this language.
In the second conditional, be becomes were for every person: If I were you, if he were here. was is heard in speech and is not wrong there, but were is the standard form and the only one to write — and in the fixed phrase If I were you it is the only possibility.
02 · Second page · imagining, advising, regretting
The uses
Imagining
Something that is simply not the case: you are picturing another life.
If I won the lottery…If we lived by the sea…
Very unlikely
It could happen in theory, but you do not expect it to.
If they offered me the job, I'd take it.
Advice
If I were you is the standard way to advise without giving an order.
If I were you, I'd call her.If I were you, I wouldn't wait.
Politeness
would makes a request softer, because it moves the sentence away from the facts.
Would you mind waiting?I'd like a coffee.
I wish + past
A regret about how things are now. The past tense marks it as not true.
I wish I knew the answer.I wish it were warmer.
I wish I could
For an ability you do not have. Never I wish I would about yourself.
I wish I could swim.I wish I could come.
I wish you would
would appears only when you want somebody ELSE to change what they do.
I wish you would listen.I wish it would stop raining.
It's time
It's time plus a past tense says something is overdue, not that it happened.
It's time we went home.It's time you decided.
Why the past sounds polite
The same step backwards that makes a sentence unreal also makes it polite, and for the same reason: it puts distance between you and the request. Can you help me is direct. Could you help me is one step back. I was wondering whether you could help me is two steps back, and is what people say when they are asking a favour of a stranger. Nothing about the past is involved — the tense is being used as a measure of distance, exactly as in the second conditional. Once you see that, would like, could you and I wish stop being three separate things to memorise.
🌍 For everyone
Both languages let you say I wish with a present tense, which in English is wrong: the wish itself is present, but what follows must step back. I wish I have time becomes I wish I had time — and the meaning only works because of that step.
Vorrei avere tempo. → I wish I had time.
would never appears in the half that carries if. It is exactly the same rule as will in the first conditional, one tense further back: If I had money, I would travel — never If I would have money. The two halves each carry their own form and never swap.
If I would have money, I would travel. → If I had money, I would travel.
would never goes in the if half: that half takes the past.
I wish I have more time. → I wish I had more time.
After I wish the verb steps one tense back.
I wish I would speak French. → I wish I could speak French.
For your own ability the form is could; would is for what others do.
If I was you, I'd wait. → If I were you, I'd wait.
In this fixed phrase were is the only standard form.
It's time we go home. → It's time we went home.
It's time takes a past tense, because the thing is overdue.
If it rained tomorrow, we will stay home. → If it rains tomorrow, we will stay home.
Rain tomorrow is a real possibility: that is the first conditional.
- If I spoke Spanish, I'd move to Madrid.
- What would you do in my place?
- I wish you would call more often.
- If I were you, I'd take the earlier train.
03 · Third page · now it's your turn
Exercises
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