条件句 Conditionals

5种条件句，遇见条件句不再头疼

All five kinds of conditionals here, no more headache in understanding them.

Zero - If you heat metal, it expands.

(always true, a general fact)

The first conditional - If you are ambitious enough, you will get a promotion.

(a real or possible situation in the present or future)

The second conditional - If you were ambitious enough, you would get promoted to CEO.

(a situation which is not true or not real about the present)

If I were you, I would leap into action immediately.

The third conditional - If you had been ambitious enough, you would have been promoted to CEO.

(an unreal situation about the past)

Mixed conditionals ( the second + the third      or     the third + the second )

If I had been ambitious enough, I would be the CEO now.

(a past action which affects the present)

If I were ambitious enough, I would have got a promotion.

(an unreal situation which is generally true which affected a past action)