You might find in speaking and writing that you have to talk about hypothetical situations and for this the second conditional is ideal.
The second conditional is used to imagine present or future situations that are impossible or unlikely in reality.
If we had a garden, we could have a cat.
If I won a lot of money, I’d buy a big house in the country.
I wouldn’t worry if I were you.
The structure is usually: if + past simple >> + would + infinitive.
Now try to complete the following prompt with as many ideas as you can:
if I had to choose between ………….
Here is an example: “If I had to chose between being self-employed and working for other companies, I would choose to be my own boss”
Try to choose as many ielts topics and make a sentence like this to deal with a hypothetical situation.
There are some alternatives that you can use to the second conditional which are worth considering and will give you higher grammar scores for ‘complexity’.
ALISTAIR BROWN: As a writing and speaking examiner for more than 10 years, I bring a lot of experience. I have seen the frustrations that students have with IELTS from a career where I have actively guided and corrected students’ studies. I am looking for the most effective ways to teach IELTS as I understand students’ needs.