ESL Lesson Plan · CEFR B1

First and Second Conditionals ESL Lesson Plan (B1, 60 Minutes)

A complete 60-minute lesson on the first and second conditionals for B1: learners meet the two forms through real decisions, discover that the difference is how likely the speaker thinks it is, and finish by arguing their way through dilemmas.

CEFR B1
60 minutes
Teenagers and adults
Grammar
First and Second Conditionals

About this lesson

It deals with the mistake that survives years of study - if I will go - and with the question that follows every explanation: how unlikely does something have to be?

At a glance

Level: B1; the zero conditional is revised in the lead-in
Learners: Teenagers and adults
Length: 60 minutes. For a 45-minute lesson, teach the first conditional only and use the second in a later lesson.
Skills: Speaking, reading and writing
Language focus: First conditional for real future possibilities and second conditional for unreal or unlikely ones, with the form of both and the comma rule
Framework: Test-teach-test: learners use both forms first, so you teach the difference they actually need
Materials: The dilemma cards or the board, the worksheet
Preparation: 10 minutes

Aims

Main aim. By the end of the lesson, learners will be able to talk about future possibilities with the first conditional and about unreal or unlikely situations with the second, choosing between them according to how likely they think the situation is.

Subsidiary aim. Learners will be able to form both conditionals correctly, with no will or would in the if-clause.
Subsidiary aim. Learners will be able to punctuate a conditional sentence written in either order.

The text: "Three decisions"

ONE. Dilan has an examination on Monday and his cousin's wedding is on Sunday. He says: "If I go to the wedding, I won't have enough time to revise. But if I stay at home, my aunt will be upset." - TWO. Amina is looking at a job in another city. "If they offer me the job, I'll take it," she says. "It starts next month." - THREE. Her brother is listening. "If I had a job like that," he says, "I would move tomorrow. But nobody is offering me anything!" - Notice: Amina may really get the job. Her brother has no offer at all.

Gist question: Which of the three speakers is talking about something that may really happen, and which is imagining?

Detail questions: (1) What are Dilan's two choices? (2) When does Amina's job start? (3) Has her brother been offered a job? (4) Why does the brother say "would" and Amina says "will"?

Language analysis

What to know before the lesson: the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target language, and the problems learners usually have with it.

Meaning

The first conditional is for a real possibility in the future: the speaker thinks it may well happen. If they offer me the job, I'll take it - an offer is expected.

The second conditional is for something unreal now, or unlikely in the future: If I had a job like that, I would move - he has no such job.

The difference is not about time. Both can be about the future. It is about what the speaker thinks of the chances, and the same situation can take either form depending on the speaker's view.

The zero conditional is a third, simpler case, for things that are always true: If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.

Concept-checking questions

Ask	Answer
"If they offer me the job, I'll take it." Is an offer possible?	Yes.
Does she have the job now?	No, not yet.
"If I had a job like that, I would move." Does he have the job?	No.
Is he likely to get one?	He thinks not.
So which sentence shows more hope?	The first one.

Form

Sentence type	Pattern	Example
First conditional	If + present simple, + will / won't + verb	If I go to the wedding, I won't have time to revise.
Second conditional	If + past simple, + would / wouldn't + verb	If I had a job like that, I would move.
Either order	The if-clause may come second, with no comma	I would move if I had a job like that.
Questions	What will / would you do if ...?	What would you do if you lost your phone?

Spelling

One punctuation rule does all of it: when the if-clause comes first, put a comma after it. When it comes second, no comma. Also note were in the second conditional: If I were you is the form expected in exams, though if I was is very common in speech.

Pronunciation

'll and 'd are easy to miss: I'll take it /aɪlteɪkɪt/ and I'd move /aɪdmuːv/. Learners who never hear them never produce them, so drill the contractions, not the full forms.
would is weak inside a sentence: /wəd/. It is strong only in a short answer: Yes, I would.
The comma is a pause, and the voice rises before it: If I had a job like that ↗, I would move ↘.

Anticipated problems and solutions

Problem	Solution
will in the if-clause: If I will go to the wedding ...	The mistake of the lesson, and it survives for years. One rule, boarded and drilled: no will and no would after if. Many first languages allow it, so expect it.
Mixing the two halves: If I go, I would take it.	Board the two patterns one above the other and show that each sentence keeps to one line.
Choosing the second conditional to sound polite about a real plan: If I would have time tomorrow ...	Ask the CCQ: is it possible? If yes, use the first. Politeness comes from could and might, not from the second conditional.
The comma everywhere, or nowhere.	Give the single rule and practise it in both orders in Task 4.
"How unlikely does it have to be?"	An honest answer: it is the speaker's choice. If I win the lottery takes either form, and the second sounds more realistic about the odds. Let learners hear both and decide.

Lead-in: what always happens?5 min · Whole class, then pairs

Aim: To revise the zero conditional and bring if-sentences into the room.

Write a half-sentence on the board: If you don't water a plant ... and let the class finish it.

Two or three more: If you heat ice ... If you mix blue and yellow ...

In pairs, learners write one of their own and read it to another pair. Keep it quick.

Test: your own two sentences8 min · Individual, then pairs

Aim: To find out what learners already do with both forms.

Two prompts on the board: Finish these. (a) If it rains tomorrow, ... (b) If I lived in another country, ...

Learners write both, then compare with a partner.

Walk round and write down what they produce. This is the evidence that shapes the next stage.

Teach: three decisions12 min · Pairs, then whole class

Aim: To clarify the difference in meaning, then the form of each.

Learners read the three short situations and answer the gist question in pairs: who may really do it, and who is imagining?

Work through the detail questions, ending on the last: why would and not will?

Board the two patterns from the text, one above the other. Ring the if-clause in each and show that neither contains will or would.

Ask the CCQs. Then show the same idea both ways - If I win the lottery, I'll ... / If I won the lottery, I'd ... - and ask which speaker is more hopeful.

Drill the contractions: I'll, we'll, I'd, they'd.

Test again: controlled practice12 min · Individual, then pairs to check

Aim: To practise both forms accurately and see the progress since the first test.

Learners do Worksheet Tasks 1 to 3 alone, then check with a partner.

Check as a class, asking each time: real possibility, or imagining?

Put two sentences from the first test on the board, unnamed, and let the class correct them.

Chain conditionals8 min · Groups of five

Aim: To produce the form quickly and repeatedly.

The first learner says a first-conditional sentence: If it rains tomorrow, I'll stay at home.

The next takes the result and makes it the condition: If I stay at home, I'll finish my book. And so on round the group.

The chain breaks when somebody uses will after if; the group starts again from that learner.

Second round in the second conditional: If I had a boat, I'd ...

Freer speaking: the dilemma10 min · Pairs, then whole class

Aim: To use both conditionals to argue a real decision.

Give each pair a dilemma, or let them use Dilan's: a wedding or an examination; a good job far away or an ordinary job at home; telling a friend an uncomfortable truth or staying quiet.

Each pair argues both sides, using if sentences, and must reach a decision.

Each pair reports the decision and one reason in a conditional sentence.

Write the best two sentences on the board as they are said.

Feedback and exit task5 min · Whole class, then individual

Aim: To correct the common mistakes and check the main aim.

Four sentences on the board, two correct and two with will after if or mixed halves, for the class to repair.

Exit task: one first conditional about this week and one second conditional about your life. Collect them.

Homework Worksheet Task 5: give advice on three problems using If I were you, I'd ...

Test-teach-test: learners use both forms first, so you teach the difference they actually need. Stage times add up to 60 minutes.

Differentiation

Support: Give weaker learners the two patterns on a slip of paper and let them do the chain in the first conditional only.
Stretch: Stronger learners use might and could in the result clause - I might go, I could take it - and try one mixed sentence: If I had studied, I would be at university now.

Adapting the lesson

For	What to change
A class of 40 or more	The chain runs in groups of five at the same time, so forty learners each speak twice in eight minutes. Report from four groups, not forty.
No photocopier	Everything here can go on the board: the three situations, the two patterns and the dilemmas. The chain and the dilemma need no materials at all.
Online	Breakout rooms of four for the chain, with each learner typing their sentence in the chat as they say it, so the whole chain stays visible.
Exam classes	Conditionals appear in B1 sentence-transformation tasks and in the speaking test, where If I were you, I'd ... is the standard way of giving advice. Task 5 practises exactly that.

Checking learning

The exit task asks for one of each, so it shows both whether learners can form them and whether they can tell the two meanings apart.

The worksheet for this lesson

First and Second Conditionals Worksheet (B1)

Five graded tasks with an answer key and teacher's notes. Printable.

About this lesson plan

Written by RCF English to the RCF English international standard: levelled by the CEFR, original throughout, and suitable for classrooms in any country. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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