The Top 10 Conditionals Song Lyrics
September 72009
10 clips of lyrics in four different conditional tenses (zero, first, second and third). Suitable for Intermediate+ level
Download this video at www.savevid.com
or
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cqeuwo
The songs are arranged in order to vary era, style and grammatical content.
Lesson plan 1
Give students the first half of each conditional and in pairs or groups get them to predict the second part. Help them with vocabulary and form and encourage them to be creative!
If I never had a cent…
If it hadn’t been for Cotton-Eye Joe…
If my true love he was gone….
If I get locked up tonight…
If I can’t have you
If you go…
If you don’t know me by now….
If I knew you were coming….
If I were a boy…
If you leave me now…
Go over the predictions in open class and correct any errors. Then play the video and compare their answers to the real ones.
An optional extra before watching the video could be to give them some of the artists names and get them to match them to their predictions. They probably won’t know all of them so it would be best to get them to guess which one belongs to just a few of them: Frank Sinatra (clue: cent-American currency), Eminem (clue: going to prison), Beyoncee (they’ll all know that one). Or get them to match their predictions to a genres: rap, pop, rock, swing, dance and country.
Lesson plan 2
Students listen the first time and see how many of the artists they can name (If it’s an adult class). Alternatively, for higher levels they could listen the first time and write down as much as they can understand.
The second time they can watch the video with the subtitles and then decide which conditional each song is.
[zero conditional]
if+ present tense, present tense
[First Conditional]
if + present tense, will/can/might/must + infinitive
[Second conditional]
if + past simple, would + infinitive
[Third conditional]
If + had + past participle, would + have + past participle
Notes:
I have only subtitled the conditional part of the lyrics but in some songs you can hear more. This is to draw attention to only the conditionals and to give the students time to think about them.
2,8)[Second Conditional]
show two versions “if I were” “If (he) was”
9,3)” I’d've” double contractions, “I would have”
3) “If I knew you were coming”, doesn’t strictly follow the rules of the third conditional “If I had known”, but this is the reality of how native speakers use the language. The second line “had you dropped me a letter” does follow the rule. (had you = if you had).
10) Frank SInatra, The Sunny Side of the Street
9) Rednex, Cotton-Eye Joe
The Silencers, Wild Mountain Thyme
7) Eminem, If I get Locked up Tonight
6) Yvonne Elliman, If I Can’t Have You
5) The Pixies, Hey
4) Simply Red, If You Don’t Know Me by Now
3) Gracie Fields, If I Knew You Were Coming I’d've Baked a Cake
2)Beyoncee, If I Were a Boy
1) Chicago, If You Leave Me Now
The opening music is from Flight of the Conchords.
Duration : 0:6:3
This is the second lesson on conditionals. There is a review and expansion on present factual conditionals, and then we move on to look at factual conditionals in the future. Level: intermediate - high intermediate.
FREE online lesson with a native speaker. Lesson 1 topic: preferences. Level: Intermediate to Advanced.
Lesson Plan & CD at
What would you do if you won ten million dollars?
Lesson Plan & CD is at:
For accompanying lesson plan, go to:
FREE online pronunciation lesson with a native speaker. Lesson 1a topic: unvoiced “th”. All levels
This is the first of several lessons on conditionals. In this lesson we begin with factual conditionals in the present. Level: intermediate - high intermediate.
This is the end product of a lesson plan for English teachers. The full lesson plan can be seen at http://www.teflclips.com/?p=105