Zero conditionals in English

Zero conditional sentences describe facts or things very likely to happen. The result is certain. There is a cause-effect relationship between the condition and the result. The condition always has the same result.

Example:

If you heat ice cream, it melts.

Condition: If you heat ice cream
Result: it melts

Explanation:
Ice cream always melts when you heat it. It is a fact.

Form of the zero conditional

We have 2 choices for the form. The difference is the order of the condition and the result:

Form 1

if + condition + result

We write the condition BEFORE the result. We write a comma (,) after the condition and before the result to represent a slight pause in speech.

Example sentences:

If you drop a plate, it breaks.
If you drink too much wine, you feel sick.

(The word “you” in these examples is a general “you”, not a specific “you”- It means “one” or “anyone”. It makes no difference WHO drops a plate. A plate breaks if it is dropped. )

Form 2

result + if + condition

We write the condition AFTER the result. There is no comma because there is no pause in the spoken English when we say the sentence.

Example sentences:
A plate breaks if you drop it.
You feel sick if you drink too much wine.

Verb tenses for the zero conditional

Look at the verbs of the example used in this lesson:

If you heat ice cream, it melts.

Question: What tenses are the 2 verbs (underlined) in the example?
Answer: The present simple

This is because the present simple describes facts and regular actions – something that always happens.

For regular events from the past, we use the past simple:

Examples:
If the weather was fine, we ate breakfast outside.
If I was naughty, my parents punished me.

“When” can replace “if”

“when” often replaces “if” for zero conditional sentences. We can use “when” because the result always happens when the condition is true. The meaning is therefore the same.

Examples:
If you heat ice cream, it melts.
When you heat ice cream, it melts.

You feel sick if you drink too much wine.
You feel sick when you drink too much wine.