Grammar

Zero Conditional

Use the zero conditional for facts and things that are always true — when one thing happens, the result always follows.

Post

Level B1 Conditionals

Summary

Use the zero conditional for facts and things that are always true — when one thing happens, the result always follows.

Structure

if/when + present simple, ... present simple

Examples

If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
When the sun goes down, it gets cold.
Plants die if they don't get water.
If you press this button, the machine starts.

Common mistakes

• Don't use 'will' here; this is about general truths: NOT 'If you heat ice, it will melt' → 'it melts.'

Related

First Conditional

More conditionals

First Conditional B1

Use the first conditional for real or likely situations in the future and their probable results.

Second Conditional B2

Use the second conditional for unreal, hypothetical, or unlikely situations in the present or future, and their imagined results.

Third Conditional B2

Use the third conditional to talk about imagined past situations that did not happen, and to express regret or criticism about the past.

Mixed Conditional C1

Use a mixed conditional when the time of the condition and the time of the result are different — for example, a past condition with a present result, or a present condition with a past result.

Wish / If Only (Present) B2

'Wish' and 'if only' with a past tense express a desire for a present situation to be different. The past form is unreal — it signals dissatisfaction with how things are now.

Wish / If Only (Past) B2

'Wish' and 'if only' with the past perfect express regret about the past — a desire that something earlier had been different. They look back at choices that can no longer be changed.

External links

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