First conditional

When you use it

The first conditional links a possible future situation to its result: if it rains, we will stay at home. The situation is real, meaning you think it may well happen. You use it for plans, warnings, promises and offers that depend on something else: if you help me, I will finish faster; if you touch that, you will burn yourself. The if-clause names the condition; the main clause names what follows from it.

How it is formed

The two halves can come in either order. When the if-clause comes first, a comma separates the halves; when the main clause comes first, no comma is needed: we will stay at home if it rains.

The most important point is the tense in the if-clause. It is present simple, even though the meaning is future. Will does not appear after if. The future idea is carried by the main clause alone.

The main clause is not limited to will. It can hold another modal or an imperative, depending on what you want to say.

Other words work like if and follow the same tense rule: when, as soon as, until, before, after, unless. Unless means if not: unless you hurry, you will be late.

Going to can replace will in the main clause when the result is a plan or a clear prediction: if it rains, we are going to stay in. The tense in the if-clause does not change.

Examples

• If it rains tomorrow, we will stay at home.
• If Tom calls, I will tell him you are busy.
• If Anna doesn't leave now, she will miss the train.
• I won't buy the jacket if it is too expensive.
• Will you help me if I ask nicely?
• If we take the bus, we will arrive by six.
• If you see Tom, give him this book.
• Unless you study, you won't pass the exam.

Common mistakes

• ✗ If it will rain, we will stay at home.
  ✓ If it rains, we will stay at home.
  Ukrainian and Russian use the future in both halves (якщо буде дощ, ми залишимося; если будет дождь, мы останемся). English marks the future once, in the main clause, and keeps the if-clause in the present.
• ✗ I tell you if I find it.
  ✓ I will tell you if I find it.
  A Slavic perfective verb like скажу / найду looks like a present form but means the future. In English the main clause needs will, or the sentence turns into a general rule.
• ✗ When I will arrive, I will call you.
  ✓ When I arrive, I will call you.
  The present-after-future-marker rule is not only for if. When, as soon as, until and before behave the same way, although коли приїду / когда приеду use the future.
• ✗ Unless you don't hurry, you will be late.
  ✓ Unless you hurry, you will be late. / If you don't hurry, you will be late.
  Unless already contains not. Adding a second negative, which is normal in Slavic sentences, reverses the meaning in English.
• ✗ If it rains tomorrow, we stay at home.
  ✓ If it rains tomorrow, we will stay at home.
  Present simple in both halves is the zero conditional and describes what always happens. For one specific future occasion, the main clause needs will.

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