Zero Conditional

B1ConditionalsDecember 27, 2025

Transcript

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Hello, I'm Georgie from BBC Learning English,

and in this video you'll learn how to talk

about facts using something called the zero conditional.

Let's get started.

Now, we're often taught the zero conditional

in the context of scientific facts.

Typical examples are:

If you heat water, it boils.

If you mix red and blue paint, you get purple.

And that's true!

But how often do you say things like that?

So the best thing for you to do is to hear

real people using the zero conditional.

I asked my colleagues: what happens if you don't get a good night's sleep?

If I don't get a good night's sleep, I usually feel quite groggy, grumpy,

and I generally can't concentrate very well.

If I don't get a good night's sleep, I can be a little bit spacey,

so I don't really pay attention very well.

I find it really hard to know what's going on.

I have to drink lots of coffee, which probably makes it a lot worse.

If I don't get a good night's sleep, I'm not very happy.

Unfortunately, this does happen quite a lot.

So these are still facts.

They're truths about your personal experience, in a general sense,

so notice the use of 'usually', 'generally'

and 'this happens quite a lot'.

So, for example, Neil is usually quite happy,

but if and when he doesn't sleep well - the condition - he isn't very happy.

And this happens quite a lot:

it's a general truth.

Let's hear another example.

Usually when I finish work, I play guitar.

So if I don't do that, then I kind of feel a bit stressed out maybe.

Here we have two general truths:

So in general, when George finishes work, he plays guitar.

And again, in general, if he doesn't play guitar, he feels stressed out.

In a similar way,

we can also use the zero conditional to talk about rules and laws.

If you travel on the train without a ticket and

the ticket conductor catches you,

then you have to pay a fine of £100.

Okay, so, there's a rule in this building and that's that

if you don't film in the right place, they can just come along and stop you.

I think we're in the right place,

I think we're OK.

So again, these are like facts,

if this happens, this happens.

If you don't buy a ticket, you get a fine, in general.

Now, pause the video

and think about which structures are used to make a zero conditional.

The structure is the present simple in the if-clause,

and present simple in the main or result clause.

To recap, the zero conditional is for scientific facts:

If you heat water, it boils.

General truths about your personal experience:

If I don't sleep well, I'm grumpy in the morning.

And rules and laws:

If you don't buy a ticket, you get a fine.

Don't forget to check out our website

and download the free worksheet to help you practise.

See you next time!

Quiz

Question 1 of 6

What type of statements is the zero conditional commonly used for?

What type of statements is the zero conditional commonly used for?

Imaginary future situations

Scientific facts and general truths

Unreal present conditions

Polite requests

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About this lesson

Learn how to talk about facts and general truths using the zero conditional with Georgie from BBC Learning English.

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