Grammar: B1 - ✨ Grammar Essentials: 🧩 Parts of Speech & 🏗️ Sentence Structure - Lesson 10: Zero Conditional (General truths: If you heat ice, it melts.)

✨ Lesson 10: The Zero Conditional (General Truths & Facts)

Today we will learn how to make conditional¹ sentences. A conditional sentence has two parts: the condition² (often starting with 'if'), and the result³.

We use the Zero Conditional to talk about things that are always true, like scientific facts or general truths. If the condition happens, the result always happens.

The Structure: Present Simple + Present Simple

The Zero Conditional is easy because it uses the Present Simple tense in both clauses.

If + [Condition in Present Simple], + [Result in Present Simple].

Scientific Facts:

• If you heat ice, it melts.
• If water reaches 100 degrees Celsius, it boils.

General Truths:

• If you don't have a ticket, you can't enter Angkor Wat.
• If it rains heavily in Siem Reap, the streets get flooded.
• If I drink too much coffee, I don't sleep well.

Sentence Order and Punctuation

The punctuation changes depending on the order of the clauses.

Structure	Comma Rule
If the 'if' clause is first...	...you must use a comma. If it rains, I take a tuk-tuk.
If the result clause is first...	...you do not use a comma. I take a tuk-tuk if it rains.

Using 'When' instead of 'If'
For the Zero Conditional, because it talks about things that are always true, you can often replace 'if' with 'when' and the meaning is the same.

• When you heat ice, it melts.

🧠 Practice Quiz: Match the Clauses

Match the condition with the logical result to make a Zero Conditional sentence.

1. If you don't water plants,...
2. If you touch a fire,...
3. If I miss the bus,...

Results:
A. ...you get burned.
B. ...I am late for work.
C. ...they die.

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(Answers: 1-C, 2-A, 3-B)

📝 Homework: Complete the Truths

Complete these Zero Conditional sentences with a logical result.

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1. If you don't eat, _________________________________.

2. If you mix red and blue, _________________________.

3. Plants die if ____________________________________.

(Example Answers: 1. ...you get hungry. 2. ...you get purple. 3. ...they don't get sunlight.)

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Conditional: (Adjective) - លក្ខខណ្ឌ (leăk'khăn) - A sentence or clause that expresses a condition, often starting with 'if'. ↩
2. Condition: (Noun) - លក្ខខណ្ឌ (leăk'khăn) - The situation that must exist for something else to happen. ↩
3. Result: (Noun) - លទ្ធផល (lôt'thâ phâl) - A consequence or outcome of an action or event. ↩