Improve your grammar skills in English with our helpful exercise and FREE printable worksheets on the topic of how to use Zero Conditional.

This material is completely free to use, so please feel free to share it widely!

If you have any feedback about this free material, we’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or review below or on Facebook or Twitter.

Zero Conditional is one of the four conditional forms in English, alongside First Conditional, Second Conditional, and Third Conditional.

We form it like this:

If (or when) + present simple (condition clause) / present simple (result clause)

The result of the condition is always or usually true if the condition is met. Clauses can be reversed.

It is often written that we use Zero Conditional to talk about FACTS – things which are always true. For example, ‘If you heat water to 100°C, it boils.’

While this is of course true, Zero Conditional is much more widely used than just talking about boiling water! We also use it to talk about the following topics:

INSTRUCTIONS
ABOUT ME
OPINIONS

Here are the four categories with example sentences:

1. FACTS: If you heat water to 100°C, it boils.
2. INSTRUCTIONS: If you click here, a new window appears.
3. ABOUT ME: If I have toothache, I go to the dentist’s.
4. OPINIONS: If you like jigsaw puzzles, this is one of the best.

Try matching the following sentences to the four categories:

a) If I read without my glasses on, my eyes hurt.

b) If it rains, it’s good for the garden.

c) Plants die if you don’t water them.

d) Ask the teacher if you don’t understand.

e) If I feel ill, I make an appointment with my GP.

f) The car runs like a dream if you service it regularly.

g) Soap dissolves if you leave it in water.

h) Milk goes off if you don’t keep it in a cool place.

i) If you put salt and vinegar on chips, they taste nicer.

j) If you don’t come to class on time, you miss such a lot.

k) Dogs really like it if you walk them regularly.

l) If school finishes early, I usually go to my friend’s house.

m) The heater comes on if you press this switch.

n) If the number 54 is late, the next bus is the 56.

o) My mind goes blank if you put me on the spot.

p) If nobody answers the bell, you call me on my mobile.

q) Pasta tastes awful if you let it boil for too long.

r) If I go to bed late, I feel tired all day.

s) If you need assistance, call this number.

t) The alarm doesn’t go off if you don’t set it.

Answers:

FACTS: b), c), g), h), n)

INSTRUCTIONS: d), m), p), s), t)

ABOUT ME: a), e), l), o), r)

OPINIONS: f), i), j), k), q)

More practice regarding how to use Zero Conditional

The activity above is based on the following pages from the FREE Big Grammar Book, which you can download here

Zero Conditional 1 – Matching Activity

Direct download: https://purlandtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/zero-conditional-bgb90.pdf

Zero Conditional 2 – Matching Activity

Direct download: https://purlandtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/zero-conditional-2-bgb91.pdf