second conditional
intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To enable students to understand and accurately use the second conditional to talk about unreal or imaginary present and future situations.
Subsidiary Aims
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To develop students’ fluency by using the second conditional structure to talk about personal hypothetical situations in a communicative context.
Procedure (21 minutes)
The teacher shows a picture of a bag full of money on the slide. The teacher asks the following questions to the class: What do you see? What do you think this is? Imagine this money were yours — what would you do? Students give spontaneous ideas orally in open class. The teacher responds naturally to students’ ideas, without correcting or focusing on grammar.
The teacher shows five example sentences using the second conditional (e.g., "If I had one million dollars...") on a slide. Each sentence includes a different idea with "first" to indicate priority. The teacher explains that students should choose one idea they would do first and give a reason. The task is done in pairs.
Show one model sentence on the slide: “If I had one million dollars, I would buy a big house.” Ask these CCQs to help learners understand the meaning and form: Do I have one million dollars now? → No Is this a real or imaginary situation? → Imaginary / Unreal What tense is the verb after “if”? → Past Simple What do we use to show the result in the second part? → Would Let students respond and think.
Show the correct form on the slide: If + past simple, … would + base verb Then model and drill pronunciation of I'd vs. I would Provide one more example using both sentence orders:(if---/----if)
Show 5 sentences on the slide (some correct, some incorrect). Ask students: Is this sentence correct or incorrect? Let them decide in open class. Elicit answers and reasons. Click to reveal the correction under each incorrect sentence. Confirm and repeat the correct form out loud.
Show slide with gap-fill sentences (with verbs in brackets). Students complete the sentences in pairs. Example: If I ______ (be) taller, I ______ (play) basketball professionally. After pair-checking, elicit answers from students one by one.
Show slide: Choose a Question (5 Second Conditional question), for example: If you had one million dollars, what would you do?
