Song: If You Don't Know Me By Now

Here is a link to this famous song by Simply Red at lyricstraining.com: http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/3357/simply_red/if_you_dont_know_me_by_now

The song is quite slow so you may be able to try the Intermediate level.

Conversation: In the restaurant

Look at this restaurant conversation that takes place in a restaurant in Manchester:

Jane:   Is this a good place to eat?
Ryan:  I think so. I've been here many times.
Jane:   What do you recommend?
Ryan:  Well, there are lots of things to try if you like spicy food. Do you want a starter or just a main course?
Jane:    If we're ordering starters, I will have the chicken satay.
Ryan:   OK. So if you order the chicken satay, I'll have the dumplings.
Jane:    Oh, if you have the dumplings, can I have one?
Ryan:   Yeah, if we order starters, we'll share them.

Waiter: Can I get you something to drink?
Jane:    Do you have any orange juice?
Waiter: Sorry, I'm afraid not. We do have some pineapple juice, though.
Jane:    Fine. I'll have a pineapple juice unless you want to share a bottle of wine?
Ryan:   No, you go for the pineapple juice. I'll have a bottle of Kirin Ichiban beer, please.
Waiter: Of course. One beer and one pineapple juice.

Jane:    Oh dear. There's so much choice. I don't know what to have. It all looks so strange and unusual.
Ryan:   You always say you want to try new things?! If you didn't want to come here, where would you prefer to go?
Jane:    I don't know. They just have so many new things. If they had sweet and sour chicken, I would order that. 
Ryan:  But they don't, so you can't. Why don't you try the Pad Thai? It's a famous and traditional dish from Thailand. If you don't like it, I'll eat it.  Or, you could try a curry? If you ordered the curry, you wouldn't need to order rice because rice is included.
Jane:   I'll try the Pad Thai. But if I don't like it, you will have to eat it.
Ryan:  No problem.

Grammar: First and Second Conditionals

We know that it always rains in Manchester, so when it rains, you need an umbrella. Sometimes, though, we want to talk about things that are not definitely true but probably (80/90%) true. Sometimes, we want to talk about things that are possibly, but unlikely to be, true (20/30%). Look at the weather forecast for next week:

Today is Saturday. On Sunday, it's definitely going to rain. On Monday, there will probably be some sunshine. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it will be warm and sunny: it's unlikely to rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

To talk about things that are definite,   we use a zero conditional
To talk about things that are probable, we use a first conditional
To talk about things that are unlikely,   we use a second conditional

Zero:      When it rains, people stay at home.
First:       If it's a nice day on Monday, I will go out with my friends.
Second:  Tuesday is going to be a nice day, but if it rained, I would stay at home.

Grammar: Zero conditionals

Look at this conversation:

Ryan: What do you do during the day?
Aziz:   I come to college.
Ryan:  Good answer. How do you get here?
Aziz:   On foot. But this is Manchester so sometimes it rains. If it rains, I don't walk.
Ryan:  So what happens if it rains?
Aziz:   Well, if it rains, I get the bus. Actually, to be honest, most days I get the bus.

If it rains, I get the bus. Why does Aziz get the bus? Because it rains.

There are two actions here: Aziz gets the bus and it rains. But Aziz gets the bus because it rains: this is the result of the rain, this is what happens when it rains.

When we talk about actions (it rains) and results (Aziz gets the bus), we use a conditional sentence: