Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica

youngest generation, who are the more / most comfortable using the web for these purposes, ages and
moves into more / most complex financial dealings.
While Canadians are more / most likely to take their finances online, active Internet users in the United
States are far more likely / likelier to shop online than / as Canadian Internet users, and subscribe to
three times as/so many online newsletters than /as their Canadian counterparts. For example, more /
most American Internet users (77%) have bought a product or service online than / as Canadian
Internet users (68% ). In the last year, American online shoppers have made more than twice as many
online buys as / that Canadians, 14 purchases compared to 6.5.
2 Conditionals
1 First conditional
if + present simple + will
We use this form to say what we believe the result
will be of a future action.
If you don't finish the report by lunchtime, the boss won't be pleased.
It is often used in negotiations to state conditions.
If you order more than ten, we'll give you a discount.
It is also used for threats and warnings.
You'll get an electric shock if you touch that.
You can use unless to mean 'if not' in the condition clause.
You'll miss the flight unless you leave immediately.
2 Second conditional if + past simple + would
We use this form to talk about future situations that we don't think are likely to happen or are
imaginary.
If I behaved like that, the boss would sack me. (But I never have behaved in this way in the
past and it's very unlikely I will start now.)
If I were the CEO of the company, I would completely restructure it.
(But I am not, and never will be.)
Compare this with a real possibility, which would be
expressed in the first conditional.
If I don't get promoted, I will probably leave the company.
We use the second conditional in negotiations to make tentative offers, or when we want to show we
are not sure about the situation or are less willing to make a concession.
Would you accept my offer if I agreed to lower the price by 1%?
(I am not sure this will be acceptable to you; 1% may not be enough.)
The second conditional is also used to make a request sound more polite.
Would you mind if we postponed the meeting till tomorrow?
NB In conditional sentences we can change the order of the 'if' clause and the main clause.
82