While correcting a mock exam with my C2 group, it came to my attention that they needed a refresher on advanced conditionals. Things like inverted conditionals and also alternatives conditional phrases such as “on condition that”, “supposing…?” and “provided that”. So I put together a little PowerPoint as a refresher. It’s not the most inspired of formats, but I dotted in a few fun speaking activities along the way. Download the PowerPoint below:
You’ll need to prep by coming up with 3 sentences, one with each inverted conditional, here are my examples:
- Should I have time tonight, I’ll watch another episode of Ted Lasso. (inverted 1st conditional)
- Were I to win the lottery, I’d quit my job. (inverted 2nd conditional)
- Had I been born in the 1400s, I would have been an explorer. (inverted 3rd conditional)
The three sentences should be a mixture of true or false bits of information about you.
Read the sentences to your class one by one, students should take no notes, just listen. They should then debate with their partner whether or not the sentence is true. Reveal the truth, then move onto the next sentence.
Once you’ve finished, show the first slide of the PowerPoint (you’ll need to edit the first few slides so that they show your 3 sentences, or just do it on the board). Students have the basic information from the 3 sentences, but none of the grammar, they have to work together to recall what you said. Maybe they’ll remember the “basic” conditional structures (if….), or perhaps the sharper students will remember some of the inverted forms.
Once you’ve revealed and discussed the different forms, lead students through the rest of the PowerPoint, they will get more complete revision of each inverted conditional plus all the other alternative forms already mentioned.
I’m interested to see what hypothetical questions your students come up with for the “suppose”/”supposing” section, let me know in the comments!