256 Part IV: The Grammar You Need to Know – and How to Teach It
So the structure is: If plus present simple tense and a present simple verb in
the other clause.
Formulating it for students
You teach the zero conditional at about pre-intermediate level. Generally, stu-
dents have no difficulty understanding this structure but you break it down
into a formula to prepare students for the other conditionals to come.
Try teaching conditionals with a chain story or dialogue. By that I mean that
you build up the interaction clause by clause. For example:
Teacher: What do you do when you feel ill?
Student A: When I feel ill, I stay home instead of going to work.
Teacher: When you stay home, do you take medicine?
Student B: Yes, when I stay home, I take aspirin.
Teacher: Ask Alex about aspirin.
Student B: Do you feel better, when you take aspirin?
Student C: Yes, whenever I take aspirin, I feel better. En Feng, what do
you do when you feel a bit better?
Matching exercises are a useful form of practice for conditional sentences.
So, you can divide the clauses and mix them up in two columns, like the one
in Figure 17-1.
Figure 17-1:
Matching
exercise
for the zero
conditional.
Match one half of the sentence 1) 2) 3) or 4) with the second half in a) b) c)
or d). Write the sentences below.
1) If I meet elderly people a) it wants to go out
2) When Mark sees Elizabeth b) I show respect
3) If life is boring c) he smiles
4) If the dog starts looking at the door d) people take a trip
Depending on the possible: The fi rst conditional
You use the first conditional for a situation that’s quite possible and realistic
but still dependent on something else.