CEFR B1-B2 • Grammar • First, second, and third conditionals applied to real proposals and contracts
Why conditionals matter in proposals
If you write English proposals, contracts, or hypothetical analyses, you are using conditional sentences constantly. "If we sign by Friday, we ship by Q2" is one type. "If we had signed by Friday, we would have shipped by Q2" is a completely different one. Mixing them up confuses your reader and can change a contract's meaning. This page covers the four conditionals you need: zero, first, second, and third — with real proposal examples.
The four conditionals at a glance
Type
Used for
Pattern
Zero conditional
Always-true facts
If + present, present
First conditional
Likely future scenarios
If + present, will/may/can + base
Second conditional
Hypothetical/unlikely scenarios
If + past, would/could/might + base
Third conditional
Unreal past scenarios
If + past perfect, would have/could have + past participle
Zero conditional: facts and policies
Zero conditionals describe what always happens or how things work. Common in product docs and policy.
"If a customer cancels within 30 days, we issue a full refund."
Always-true policy. Both clauses in present tense.
"If the sensor reading exceeds 80°C, the system shuts down automatically."
Technical fact. Always happens this way.
"When you submit a request, the API returns a 200 within 50ms."
"When" can replace "if" in zero conditionals — both signal always-true.
First conditional: likely future
For real and likely scenarios — almost every proposal uses these.
"If we sign by Friday, we will ship by Q2."
"If + present, will + base." Standard proposal commitment.
"If the budget is approved next month, we can hire two more engineers."
"Can" instead of "will" softens the consequence. Both are first-conditional.
"If the migration runs into issues, we may need to extend the timeline by a week."
"May" hedges the consequence. Useful for risk-flagging in proposals.
"If you do not respond by Thursday, we will assume the proposal is accepted."
Common contract language. Specific and binding.
Second conditional: hypothetical scenarios
For things that are unlikely or imagined. Common in negotiations ("what if...") and risk analyses.
"If we had unlimited budget, we would hire ten more engineers."
"If + past, would + base." Used for unlikely/imaginary scenarios.
"If the deal closed at $10M, we would invest in three additional regions."
Hypothetical scenario in a proposal — outlines what would change.
"If I were in your position, I would push back on the timeline."
"If I were" (subjunctive) — never "if I was" in formal English. See dedicated page.
"What if we extended the trial to 60 days?"
"What if + past" = informal second conditional. Standard negotiation phrase.
Third conditional: unreal past
For talking about past situations that did not happen. Common in postmortems and lessons-learned.
"If we had run the load test, we would have caught the bug before launch."
"If + past perfect, would have + past participle." Postmortem framing.
"If the contract had been signed in March, we could have started by April."
Discusses a missed timeline scenario.
"If you had told me earlier, I might have been able to help."
"Might have been able to" = soft regret. Common in feedback conversations.
Mixed conditionals: past condition, present result
The past affects the present. Useful for explaining why things are the way they are now.
"If we had hired Sandeep last quarter, we would be on track right now."
Past condition ("had hired") + present consequence ("would be on track").
"If you had read the contract carefully, you would not be in this situation."
Common in legal/audit conversations. Be careful — can sound accusatory.
Inverted conditionals (formal style)
For formal proposals, you can drop "if" by inverting the verb. Sounds more professional.
"Should you decide to proceed, we can begin work next Monday." (= "If you decide to proceed...")
"Should you" + base verb = formal first-conditional inversion.
"Were the budget approved, we would hire immediately." (= "If the budget were approved...")
"Were [subject]" = formal second-conditional inversion. Very formal.
"Had we caught the issue earlier, the rollback would not have been needed." (= "If we had caught...")
"Had + subject + past participle" = formal third-conditional inversion.
Common conditional mistakes
Wrong
Right
Why
"If we will sign, we ship in Q2."
"If we sign, we will ship in Q2."
No "will" in the if-clause
"If I was in your position..."
"If I were in your position..."
Subjunctive: always "were"
"If we would have signed..."
"If we had signed..."
No "would" in the if-clause
"If you would tell me..."
"If you told me..."
Hypothetical → simple past
"If the budget approves..."
"If the budget is approved..."
Passive voice for "be done to"
Choosing between first and second conditional
The choice depends on how likely you think the scenario is.
Likely: "If we close Acme this quarter, we hit the number." (1st conditional)
Unlikely: "If we closed every deal in the pipeline, we would 3x revenue." (2nd conditional)
The pattern: first conditional = "this might happen." Second conditional = "this is unlikely or imaginary." Pick based on probability, not just grammar.
A complete proposal section using all four
"Standard policy: if a customer cancels within 30 days, we issue a full refund.
Likely scenario: if the contract is signed by Friday, we will begin onboarding next Monday and have the team ramped by end of month.
Hypothetical: if budget were not a constraint, we would propose a six-region rollout instead of three.
Past lesson: if we had run a pilot before the full rollout last year, we would have caught the integration issues earlier."