The second conditional is a structure used to talk about impossible or imaginary situations.
If I married Mary, I would be happy.
If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.
If it snowed next July, would you be surprised?
Form
To form the second conditional we use: If+past simple and would+infinitive
She would travel all over the world if she were rich.
She would pass the exam if she ever studied.(She never studies, so this won't happen)
It is not important which clause is first.
Many conditional sentences use if + will/would. However conditional sentences can also use other words instead of 'if' – 'when' 'as soon as' 'in case'. Other modal verbs can be used instead of 'will/would' – 'can/could', 'may' 'might'.
How is this different from the first conditional?
This kind of conditional sentence is different from the first conditional because this is a lot more unlikely.
For example (second conditional): If I had enough money I would buy a new car (I'm probably not going to have this much money, it's just a dream, not very real)
But (first conditional): If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes (It's much more likely that I'll have enough money to buy some shoes)
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