Linking language · Condition

Condition connectors in English

These connectors tell the reader that the second idea only happens if the first one is true. Use a condition connector when your claim is not unconditional. In Task 2 this is how a strong argument avoids overclaiming: “free tuition works, provided that places are allocated on merit” is far more defensible than “free tuition works”.

6 connectorseach with where it goes and how it is punctuated

2 worked examplesthe relationship, explained

2 common mistakeswith the repair

4 exercisesrelationship first, then the word

Start here · the long version

What condition connectors really claim

Conditional connectors attach an outcome to a circumstance, which lets you argue about cases that have not happened.

How to argue about something that is not true yet

Much of Task 2 is about what would happen if something changed, and the conditional is the only grammar that lets you say it without claiming it is happening. “If governments restricted car access, congestion would fall” argues a case without asserting either half — which is precisely what a proposal needs, because the whole point is that it has not been done.

The tenses are where this family breaks, and the break is systematic rather than random. A real possibility takes present plus “will”; a hypothetical takes past plus “would”. Mixing them — “If governments would restrict access, congestion will fall” — is one of the most recognisable first-language errors in the exam, and it appears in exactly the sentences where a writer is making their strongest proposal.

The punctuation is smaller and just as consistent. A fronted “if” clause takes a comma; a trailing one does not. “If X, Y” and “Y if X” are both correct, and “Y, if X” is not.

Real or hypothetical

Present + “will” for a real possibility. Past + “would” for a hypothetical one.

Never “if … would”

The “would” goes in the result clause, never in the “if” clause. The most recognisable error in this family.

The comma

A fronted “if” clause takes one; a trailing one does not.

Alternatives to “if”

“Provided that”, “unless”, “as long as”. “Unless” already means “if not” — never pair it with a negative.

What it costs you to skip this

The tense mixture is not a subtle error: it is one of the patterns an examiner is trained to notice, and it lands on Grammatical Range and Accuracy in the sentences where you were making your most important claim. Avoiding conditionals altogether costs elsewhere — you lose the only structure that lets you argue a proposal without asserting it has already worked.

Where it stops applying

A conditional argues a case; it does not establish it. “If cities restricted cars, congestion would fall” is a claim that still needs supporting, and its conditional form does not exempt it. And stacking two conditions in one sentence produces something no reader can evaluate — if the argument needs two circumstances to hold at once, it needs two sentences.

Examples · what these words actually do

A connector joins two sentences and names the relationship between them

That is the whole job. The words are not decoration and they are not interchangeable: each one makes a claim about how the second sentence relates to the first, and the reader will read it that way whether you meant it or not. Here is what this family claims.

First sentence

Places are allocated on academic merit.

Second sentence

Free tuition widens access rather than subsidising those who could already pay.

The second sentence is not a fact on its own — it only becomes true when the first one is. The connector attaches a price tag to the claim: this holds, but only under this condition. Remove the condition and you have overclaimed.

When you need it
Use a condition connector when your claim is not unconditional. In Task 2 this is how a strong argument avoids overclaiming: “free tuition works, provided that places are allocated on merit” is far more defensible than “free tuition works”.

The connectors

Where each one goes, and how it is punctuated

They do not all behave the same way. Two connectors can mean the same thing and still be written differently — that is where most linking errors come from.

Neutral

Opens the condition clause. With a present tense in the “if” half, use “will” in the other: “If fees rise, applications will fall.”

Unless

Neutral

Means “if not”, so never write “unless … not”. “Unless places are allocated fairly” = “if places are not allocated fairly”.

Provided that

Formal

Opens the condition clause. Stronger than “if”: it signals the condition is essential, not merely possible.

As long as

Neutral

Same job as “provided that”, slightly less formal. Common and safe in Task 2.

In case

Neutral

Means “as a precaution against”, not “if”. “Take an umbrella in case it rains” ≠ “if it rains”.

Otherwise

Formal

Opens the sentence with a comma and states what happens when the condition fails: “…, otherwise the policy subsidises the wealthy.”

Watch one · then do three

See the relationship before you choose the word

The connector is not a decoration. It is a claim about how the two halves relate, and the reader will hold you to it.

Worked example · provided that

Removing tuition fees widens access to higher education.

provided that, Removing tuition fees widens access to higher education, provided that places are allocated on academic merit rather than by school of origin.

Why this one: The condition is what makes the claim survive an objection. Without it the sentence claims free tuition always widens access, which is easy to refute.

Worked example · Unless

“Unless” already contains the negative.

Unless regulation protects residents, tourism growth transfers the costs onto the people who live there.

Why this one: “Unless regulation protects” = “if regulation does not protect”. Writing “unless regulation does not protect” reverses the meaning by accident.

What goes wrong

The two mistakes this family produces

Unless the council does not act, congestion will worsen.

“Unless” already means “if not”, so the sentence now says the opposite of what the writer intended.

Repaired: Unless the council acts, congestion will worsen.

If fees will rise, applications will fall.

English does not use “will” in the “if” half of a first conditional. The present tense carries the future meaning.

Repaired: If fees rise, applications will fall.

Now you try · with the scaffolding on

Build it one step at a time

Write the conditional at the right tense, which is where this family breaks.

The material

You want to argue that subsidising rail fares would shift commuters out of cars — a proposal, not something that has happened.

Step 1Decide: real possibility or hypothetical?

Is this something likely to happen, or something you are proposing? The answer decides both tenses.

Your version0 words · minimum 8

8 more words before you can compare. Writing it yourself first is the whole exercise.

Step 2Write the two halves with the right tenses

Step 3Add the comma rule, and write it both ways

Exercises · step 1, the relationship

Before the word, the direction

Choosing the connector is the second decision. The first one is noticing where the next sentence is going.

Step 1 · the relationship

Which sentence comes next — and why that one?

The sentence you have: Free tuition widens access to university.

Three sentences could follow. Only one of them the second idea only happens if the first one is true. Choose it before you think about any connector.

Exercises · step 2, the word

Choose the connector the sentence actually needs

Now that you can see the direction, pick the word that announces it. The first wrong answer gives you a hint and a second attempt, and every wrong option explains what it would have signalled instead. Nothing here is scored.

Free tuition widens access to university _______ places are allocated on academic merit rather than by school of origin.

_______ regulation protects residents, tourism growth shifts the cost onto the people who live in the city.

Cycle lanes have to be physically separated from traffic. _______, the people most likely to switch will keep driving.

The other families