grammar lesson #2

let’s take 3 minutes to explain this*:

the wedding was charming, if a little gauche
the parties were tasteful, if a little loud

if you recognize these lyrics, wanna trade friendship bracelets?**

if I had a dollar for every time a new student or a follower online told me they didn’t understand conditionals in English grammar, I would have been able to retire by now.

would you believe me if I told you that avoiding using conditionals when you speak is what’s holding you back from feeling confident about them?

i’s true: unless you practice the scary forms, or the forms that you are nervous about using, you will never get past your feeling like you don’t understand them.

if I said to you: “I don’t really know how to drive a car but I’m not going to get in it and learn, even though I want to. I’m scared and I’m just gonna use the bus forever”,

would you tell me to get over my fear, book a few driving lessons and go on a test drive,

or would you say “that’s a good idea, not learning to drive even when you want to, that way you’ll definitely become a driver?”

I know where the difficulty is.

in conditional sentences, when you translate them into your native language,
or when you want to construct a conditional sentence by translating from your native language,
(which everybody from every country does)***

you won’t always get a perfect match.

it’s not meant to be a dating app or a streaming service where you put in your desired criteria and work with what is available to you inside the given pool of knowledge (i.e. your native language).

here, you need to first, learn, second, think a little, three, create a sentence using what you did in step one and two.

and that’s exactly where it gets tricky.

conditionals don’t always behave the same way in English as they do in your native language, and that’s okay.
the key is understanding them on English’s terms.

that’s why I pulled a free video lesson breaking down the forms of “if” that you might not even know are conditionals:

"If so" and "if not"—the shortcuts you’re probably underusing
"If + adjective"—like "if necessary, we’ll reschedule"
"If" as "although"—like "charming, if a little gauche"

but here’s the thing: these forms aren’t as scary as they look. In fact, they’re fun once you understand how they work—and they’ll make your speech feel more natural and fluid.

if you’ve ever felt like conditionals are the Everest of English grammar, this lesson is your basecamp. It’s your chance to level up without any pressure—just a clear, simple, and engaging approach to learning.

grammar lesson #2

watch on youtube

these forms often get skipped in traditional grammar lessons, but they’re key to sounding natural and confident.

I’m sharing this video with you because so many of my students have said that my way of explaining these structures finally made them click.

this lesson won’t just teach you how to use “if” in new ways—it will also help you recognize these forms in conversations, making your English feel more dynamic and polished.

take 3 minutes to watch this and start practicing these advanced forms. It’s simpler than you think, and it’s a skill that will make a huge difference in your speaking and writing.

in my next post, I’ll share another grammar video with you.

Conditionals are meant to be understood and loved and used.

if I hadn’t practiced my conditional sentences so many times, I wouldn’t have been able to get accepted into my BA in English and Linguistics. At many universities, you won’t be able to pass your English course if you don’t use conditionals, at least on a conversational level.

for you, maybe it’s for your job. Using English with international clients, often native speakers, requires you to put conditions into place. “If you’ve had experience with this program before, let me know” is a sentence you might be scared to write on your own in an email to your coworker, and you might end up rethinking it a thousand times before you click “send”.

or maybe it’s for you to simply be able to talk about your experience to people without worrying about mixing conditionals wrong, while saying “If I were prepared, I would have passed my driving test.”

If you could speak this confidently, imagine the doors it would open for you.

Should you need a confidence boost, just revisit the basics we covered in today’s lesson.

I took the free video lesson from my Advanced Grammar University course.

For the first time, you can choose individual modules from my Advanced Grammar University course based on what you need most to improve, and join just those specific modules.

You’re also free to join multiple modules without committing to the entire course, although the full course option will still be available if you want to dive into everything.

I created this option so you can focus on the areas of English that matter most to you, skipping over what you’re already confident in.

if you’ve been considering this course for a while, now’s the perfect time to explore this year’s Black Friday deal:

2 courses for the price of 1
AND
a 24% discount

Oh, and if you choose to join even one module (for example, module one), you will also receive the How to Learn Languages course for free as a Black Friday bonus.
This bonus applies to all students who join with the code AGU2024.

“I’m the type of person who has trouble remembering things, I can’t focus for too long, and I get bored easily. Fortunately, Laura’s classes are so interesting, varied and they always inspire you to learn. I wish I’d found Laura 10 years ago because I would have probably loved to have a teacher like her. She’s so passionate and she encourages you to start using English more and she then gives you all the tools to improve it on your own.”

Weronika K.

this course is going to level up your English game.

think of it as a bootcamp for your brain, where we'll tackle the finer points of the language and unlock your full potential.

check out the website for all the details:

Learn more

you've got the skills, and this course is going to help you unleash them.

you're going to feel empowered, confident, and ready to crush any conversation.

if you feel it's time to rewrite your language story, I'm here to help you write the next chapter.

see you in the next grammar lesson,

xo,
Laura

*would you believe me if I told you that more than 50% of the sentences in this post contain a conditional form?

**for a linguistic analysis of these lyrics:

1. "The wedding was charming, if a little gauche."

2. "The parties were tasteful, if a little loud."

In both of these sentences, "if" functions in a way that is equivalent to "although" or "even though."

"if" works like "although" to express a contrast between two qualities. The sentence still emphasizes the positive (charming, tasteful), but it acknowledges a negative (gauche, loud) in a way that softens the criticism and doesn't diminish the overall point.