- If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone.
Beyoncé is not a boy, but if she were, she would turn off her phone so that she could pay attention to her girlfriend. It goes under, “If I were you, I would join the tennis club.” I´m not you, but if I were…
- If you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.
It is the “zero conditional.” It goes under, “If I have enough time, then I play tennis as much as I can,” because it is true in the present:
You thought I would wait for you…
It is currently true. He thought Beyoncé would wait for him.
…you thought wrong.
is also currently true. He thought wrong. The verbs are past tense, but the statements are true in the present. Beyoncé also could have said: “Because you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.”
- If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a house.
Is the second conditional. It goes under, “If I had enough time, then I would play tennis every day.”
Se fosse americano, minha vida não seria assim.
Second conditional? ……Maybe
It means, of course I’m not American so obviously I don’t have so much fun but if I were…. well maybe I would get to go around Colombia on a motorbike.
America! Free Portuguese lesson. It’s a language exchange!