Everyday Grammar: Zero Conditional

John: Hello Dr. Jill! What were you thinking about today? Jill: I watched a science documentary yesterday. John: That sounds boring – not exciting, like grammar. Jill: [shakes head] In any case, the documentary got me thinking about how certain scientific ideas relate to grammar. John: Really? How so? Jill: Think of ideas that hold true: when water reaches a certain temperature, it freezes. If you drop an object, it falls to the ground. John: Are you talking about grammar rules? Jill: No, I was thinking about conditional statements – statements that suggest when X happens, y happens. John: Right! And you used the present tense for both parts of the sentence – the part that begins with if or when - and the part that shows the result - the main clause. when water reaches a certain temperature, it freezes Jill: Yes. When both parts use the present tense, we sometimes call it the zero conditional. John: That’ a useful structure for talking about general truths – like the laws that govern our natural world. Jill: But these conditionals have all kinds of uses. Consider this statement: When one of my llamas escapes from my farm, I call Bill, the llama catcher. John: I forgot about your llama farm! You have all kinds of unusual investments. Jill: Here’s another one: If John invests in a company, it collapses. John: That’s not fair! It’s true that I’ve made some bad cryptocurrency investments Jill: Grammar coins? Seriously? And that’s Everyday Grammar Originally published at - https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a...