Material designed by MCE. Adriana Luna Martínez. UAQ. FI.
2025 -1
UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE QUERÉTARO
FACULTAD DE INGENIERIA
SPEAK YOUR MIND, UNIT 4
INVERSION WITH CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
1. Conditional sentences
As you know, we have 4 conditional sentences in English:
Zero conditional If I eat healthy food, I have good physical conditions.
(ordinary situations)
First conditional If I save money, I will buy a new car.
(possible situations in the
future)
Second conditional If I had a million dollars, I would invest part of it.
(Unreal situations now)
Third conditional If I had been more careful, I wouldn’t have crashed the
(Regret about a past situation) car.
*Careful about the grammar tenses used in each conditional.
INVERSION WITH CONDITIONALS
Remember that INVERSION is used in formal situations, especially in literature. It is used to sound
more formal and to make emphasis as well.
Inversion consists in INVERTING the SUBJECT AND THE VERB in a sentence as a question form. For
conditionals, we follow the following pattern:
Zero conditional If I eat healthy food, I have good physical conditions.
(ordinary situations)
Should + subject + base form, … Should I eat healthy food, I have good…
First conditional If I save money, I will buy a new car.
(possible situations in the future)
Should + subject + base form, … Should I save money, I will buy…
Second conditional If I had a million dollars, I would invest part of it.
(Unreal situations now)
Were + subject + base form, … Were I to have a million dollars, I would invest…
Were + subject + to + base form,
Third conditional If I had been more careful, I wouldn’t have crashed the
(Regret about a past situation) car.
Had + subject + past participle, … Had I been more careful, I wouldn’t have crashed…
PRACTICE
1. Invert the if condition clause in the sentences below.
1. If you bump into Mike at the conference, tell him to send me a message.
______________________________________, tell him to send me a message.
2. If we offered you the position, when would you be able to start?
__________________________________, when would you be able to start?
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3. If she had passed her driving test, she could hire a car.
_______________________________________, she could hire a car.
4. If it wasn’t for Peter advice, I don’t how we would have managed.
_______________________________________, I don’t know how we would have managed.
5. If they had gone to the same university, they might have graduated together.
______________________________________, they might have graduated together.
6. He would be there now if he had caught the 5:00 pm train.
He would be there now _________________________________________.
7. We can meet inside the cinema if it happens to be raining.
We can meet inside the cinema ________________________________________.
2. Write the correct inversion form of the verbs in parentheses.
1. If he calls, tell him I’m busy.
_________________________________.
2. If he sees the message, he will reply immediately.
_________________________________.
3. If he won the lottery, he would travel around the world.
_________________________________.
4. If you practiced more, you would perform better.
_____________________________.
5. If I were you, I wouldn’t take the risk.
_____________________________.
6. If we had known about the delay, we would have rescheduled the meeting.
_____________________________.
7. If she had taken the train, she would have arrived earlier.
_____________________________.
8. If they had left earlier, they wouldn’t have gotten stuck in the traffic.
_____________________________.
3. Write the conditions into the inverted format.
1. If Sara moved to Australia, her family would really miss her.
_____________________________________________________________________.
2. If you need any assistance, you can contact us at this number.
______________________________________________________________________.
3. They wouldn't have bought the apartment if they had known about the noisy neighbors upstairs.
______________________________________________________________________.
4. If our grandmother hadn't gone to that party, she would have never met our grandfather.
______________________________________________________________________.
5. I'm sure Anika would do very well in her exams if she studied just a little bit harder.
______________________________________________________________________.
6. If you don't receive your certificate within a month, please contact us.
______________________________________________________________________.
7. We could have had better seats at the concert if we hadn't bought the tickets at the last minute.
______________________________________________________________________.
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8. You would probably change your opinion if you heard the whole story.
______________________________________________________________________.
9. If the play is a success, then they will take it to other cities.
______________________________________________________________________.
10. If they offered you the job, would you take it?
______________________________________________________________________.
11. They will be relegated to the second division if they lose this match.
______________________________________________________________________.
12. If we had invested in that company, we would be very wealthy.
______________________________________________________________________.
4. Fill in the gaps with the correct inverted form of the verb sin parentheses.
1. (the books/be) _________________________ cheaper, I would have bought them all.
2. (the Prime Minister/fail) _____________________ to get the necessary support, he would be
forced to call a snap election.
3. (the evidence/not be destroyed) _________________________, the accused would have been
found guilty.
4. (you/need) _________________________ any further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
5. (the ship/ not capsize) __________________________, there would have been more survivors.
6. (I/win) _________________________ the prize, I wouldn't spend it on things I don't need.
7. (the storm/be) _________________________ at night, the rescue team wouldn't have found the
lost boy scouts.
8. (he/decide) ___________________________ to come, please let me know as soon as possible.
9. (I/ be offered) _________________________ the job, I would have to think about it.
10. (you/have) __________________________ any further questions, please ask to see the
manager.
5. Write the inverted conditional sentences with if…
1. Had I finished my homework, I would have called you.
_______________________________________________________.
2. Should you happen to see my wife, tell her I called.
_______________________________________________________.
3. Were he really a good teacher, he would let us go early.
_______________________________________________________.
4. Were I you, I wouldn’t do that.
_______________________________________________________.
5. Had I known, I would have told you.
_______________________________________________________.
6. Should anyone call, please take a message.
_______________________________________________________.
Material designed by MCE. Adriana Luna Martínez. UAQ. FI. 2025 -1
