B2+ grammar lab
Conditionals: Change the Timeline
Real plans, imaginary lives, past regrets and alternate timelines — learn to choose the conditional that matches the meaning in your head.
Section 1 · Grammar presentation
Build your timeline
Use the arrows to move through the six mini-slides. Focus on time and reality before you focus on the verb form.
First choose the timeline, then the tense
1st · Possible future
open possibility
If the plan works, we’ll celebrate.
2nd · Imaginary now/future
unlikely or unreal
If I had more time, I’d learn Korean.
3rd · Alternative past
too late to change
If we had left earlier, we’d have caught it.
Mixed · Cause and result in different times
past ↔ present
If I had slept, I wouldn’t be exhausted now.
A real possibility: “This could actually happen.”
If I finish the edit tonight, I’ll post the video tomorrow.
Useful variations
may / might: If it rains, we might stay in.
can: If you finish, you can join us.
imperative: If she calls, tell me.
Smart linkers
unless = if … not
as long as / provided that = only on this condition
in case = as preparation for a possible event
An unreal or unlikely present/future
If I lived in Seoul, I’d go to live shows every week. (But I don’t live there.)
If I were you, I wouldn’t reply to that message. (Advice.)
Distance, not past time
The Past Simple makes the idea more distant from reality. It does not necessarily refer to the past.
Would, could, might
would = expected result; could = ability/possibility; might = uncertain result.
An alternative past: “It happened differently.”
If we had checked the reviews, we wouldn’t have ordered that dress.
If she had charged her phone, she could have filmed the final song.
What it can express
regret · criticism · relief · imagined consequences · missed opportunities
Result options
would have = expected result
could have = possible/able
might have = perhaps
One cause, two different times
Past cause → present result
if + Past Perfect, would + base verb
If I had gone to bed earlier, I wouldn’t feel awful now.
The past cannot change; its result is visible now.
Present state → past result
if + Past Simple, would have + past participle
If I weren’t so shy, I would have spoken to her yesterday.
A continuing quality explains a past event.
Sound more flexible and sophisticated
Conditional inversion
Had I known, I would have stayed.
Were I you, I would wait.
Should you need help, call me.
Implied conditions
Without your help, I’d have failed.
But for the rain, we’d be outside.
I’d come, otherwise I’d tell you.
More precise linkers
provided/providing that
on condition that
even if · supposing
A formal hypothetical
If + were to + verb makes a future idea sound more remote:
If the app were to close, what would happen?
Section 2 · Controlled practice
Train the grammar
The tasks move from basic form choices to timeline logic, inversion and translation.
Recognise forms and meanings.
Connect different times and upgrade structures.
Produce accurate English from Russian.
Task 1 · Gap-fill · Level 1
Possible or imaginary?
Complete each sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets. Use the 1st or 2nd conditional.
- If Mia finishes the project tonight, she us at the café. (join)
- If I that jacket in my size, I’ll try it on. (see)
- Unless Noah , I won’t answer his messages. (apologise)
- As long as you keep the receipt, you the headphones. (can / return)
- If the weather is good tomorrow, we photos in the park. (take)
- If I a bigger room, I would create a proper filming corner. (have)
- If Lena were more confident, she herself with influencers. (not compare)
- What if someone shared your photo without asking? (you / do)
- If we lived closer to the venue, we there. (can / walk)
- If the course weren’t so expensive, I for it. (might / sign up)
Total Questions: 0
Incorrect Answers: 0
Task 2 · Matching DND · Level 2
Match the timeline
Drag each result clause to the condition that logically and grammatically matches it.
Total Questions: 0
Incorrect Answers: 0
Task 3 · Gap-fill · Level 3
Past cause, present result?
Complete the sentences. Decide whether you need the 3rd conditional or one of the two mixed patterns.
- If Sara had charged her phone, she the performance. (can / record)
- If I hadn’t deleted the email, I what they promised now. (be able to / prove)
- If they had listened to the guide, they lost now. (not be)
- If Max weren’t so impulsive, he that message last night. (not send)
- If I had learnt to code earlier, I a stronger portfolio now. (have)
- If Maya spoke Spanish, she us at the airport yesterday. (can / help)
- We wouldn’t have missed the opening act if the train delayed. (not be)
- If the shop had refunded me, I with customer support. (not still / argue)
- If you were more organised, you the tickets at home. (not forget)
- If we had taken that internship, we for the company now. (might / work)
Total Questions: 0
Incorrect Answers: 0
Task 4 · Transformations · Level 4
Give the sentence a B2+ upgrade
Rewrite each sentence using the cue. Keep the meaning. Final punctuation is optional.
- If you need any help, message me. (SHOULD)
- If I were in your position, I would wait for the official announcement. (WERE)
- If she had known about the extra fee, she wouldn’t have subscribed. (HAD)
- We can use the studio only if we leave it tidy. (PROVIDED)
- If he doesn’t set a reminder, he’ll forget the deadline. (UNLESS)
- If the platform closed unexpectedly, where would creators go? (WERE TO)
- If you hadn’t reminded me, I would have missed the application deadline. (WITHOUT)
- If it hadn’t been for her advice, I would still be choosing the wrong course. (BUT FOR)
Total Questions: 0
Incorrect Answers: 0
Task 5 · Translation · Level 5
Translate with timeline precision
Translate each sentence into English. Put the condition in the first gap and the result in the second gap. Do not type commas or full stops: the punctuation is already provided. Use the cues, including the articles and prepositions given there.
- Если ты закончишь монтаж сегодня, мы опубликуем видео завтра. Cue: to finish the editing / finish editing · to complete the editing · to upload / post the video
, .
- На твоём месте я бы не доверяла этому аккаунту. Cue: If I were you · to trust this account · to put one's trust in this account
, .
- Если бы билеты не стоили так дорого, мы могли бы пойти на концерт. Cue: the tickets · to cost so much / that much · to be so expensive · to go to / attend the concert
, .
- Если бы она прочитала условия, она бы не согласилась на бесплатный пробный период. Cue: to read the terms · to agree to / sign up for the free trial · the free trial period
, .
- Если бы я не потеряла чек, я могла бы вернуть платье вчера. Cue: to lose the receipt · to return / take back the dress · to be able to
, .
- Если бы он не был таким упрямым, он бы принял наше предложение вчера. Cue: to be so stubborn / less stubborn · to accept our offer / proposal · to take us up on our offer
, .
- Если бы мы забронировали отель раньше, мы бы сейчас не искали другую комнату. Cue: to book the hotel / make the hotel reservation · to look / search for another room
, .
- Если тебе вдруг понадобится зарядное устройство, возьми моё. Cue: Should you need a charger · if you happen to need a charger · to take / use mine
, .
- Если бы не её поддержка, я бы уже бросила этот курс. Cue: but for / without her support · to quit / leave / drop this course · by now / already
, .
- Если бы мы знали, насколько быстро новость разойдётся по сети, мы бы сформулировали пост осторожнее. Cue: the news / the post · to go viral / spread online / spread across the internet · to word / phrase / write the post more carefully
, .
Total Questions: 0
Incorrect Answers: 0
Section 3 · Free speaking
Rewrite history
Choose one alternate timeline and build a short monologue. There is no single correct answer: the challenge is to make the consequences logical.
Task 6 · Creative monologues
What if the timeline changed?
The USSR and wireless power
Imagine that the USSR had developed safe, efficient wireless power-transfer technology in the 1950s, decades ahead of other countries. What might everyday life in the USSR have been like?
- How might homes, factories and transport have changed?
- Would living standards and the global balance of power have been different?
- What new risks or unintended consequences might have appeared?
Active words:
Antibiotics before the Black Death
Suppose effective antibiotics had been discovered and produced on a large scale in fourteenth-century Europe. How might history have changed?
- Would the plague have caused the same social and economic shock?
- How might population growth have affected cities and food supplies?
- Could antibiotic resistance have developed much earlier?
Active words:
Social media in the 1980s
What if smartphones and modern social media had existed in the 1980s? Consider both teenage life and major political events.
- Would young people have felt more connected or more pressure?
- How might news, protest movements and popular culture have changed?
- What would our digital world be like now?
Active words:
Equal access to universities in 1750
Imagine that women worldwide had gained equal access to universities and scientific institutions by 1750. What discoveries and social changes might have happened sooner?
- Which fields might have developed differently?
- How could family life, employment and politics have changed?
- Would full equality necessarily have followed?
Active words: