If I had his number, I would call him.Is that clear? Have a look at the examples: Second, we can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true. She would pass the exam if she ever studied.(She never studies, so this won't happen).She would travel all over the world if she were rich.If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello.If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.(I probably won't win the lottery).Maybe I'm imagining some dream for example. This is mostly done in formal writing).įirst, we can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true. (We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. The second conditional uses the past simple after if, then 'would' and the infinitive:
