THE SECOND CONDITIONAL

We use the second conditional to talk about unreal present; that is, things that cannot happen or that are not possible, either at the moment of speaking or permanently. When we refer to that unreal present, we use the second conditional.

The structure of the second conditional is

IF + SIMPLE PAST + WOULD / COULD + VERB INFINITIVE

E.g. If I were rich, I would buy a huge mansion.

(I am not rich, so I cannot buy a huge mansion!)

Sometimes it's easy to forget the past tense of the verbs in the second conditional; remember that we're talking about unreal things, not things that happened in the past:

If you did more exercise, you would feel better.

If she didn't smoke, she would be healthier.

If they did homework more often, their marks would improve.

The if-clause follows the same rules of the past simple tense:

If I weren't a teacher, I think I would be a translator.

If they didn't play football, they would put on weight.

If she didn't have a computer, she wouldn't be able to work. (Notice that be able to is the infinitive form of can.)

Pay attention to the word order in questions:

Where would you live if you didn't live in Mexico?

What would you do if a journalist asked a difficult question?

What would you say if he asked you to marry him?

Would you be happy if you had a million dollars?