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Verb Tenses - Lesson 116

Conditional Continuous

Lesson 116 - learn the continuous conditional: how to form it, when to use it, clear examples and a short video from a British English teacher.

I Swear English › Verb Tenses › Conditional Continuous

How to form and use the conditional continuous

How To Form The Conditional Continuous:

Take a subject (I, the people etc) then put the auxiliary verb would (I would..., the people would...) then use the infinitive of the verb to be (I would be... the people would be...) then you put the present participle of the verb you want to use. (I would be relaxing, the people would be spending). The would can be contracted to 'd To form negatives put not after the auxiliary would. I would not be relaxing, the people would not be spending. I would not can be contracted to wouldn't. I wouldn't be relaxing, the people wouldn't be spending. To make questions change the positions of the subject and the auxiliary verb would. Would I be relaxing? Would the people be spending? If you wish you can add a question word at the beginning of the sentence. Where would I be relaxing? How much money would the people be spending?

The table set out below shows how it works:

Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I would be earning I would not be earning Would I be earning?
You would be earning You would not be earning Would you be earning?
He would be earning He would not be earning Would he be earning?
She would be earning She would not be earning Would she be earning?
It would be earning It would not be earning Would it be earning?
We would be earning We would not be earning Would we be earning?
You would be earning You would not be earning Would you be earning?
They would be earning They would not be earning Would they be earning?

The following video explains how to form the conditional continuous:

Watch the video lesson

Video transcript

Hi students. How to make the conditional continuous. I would be earning. OK. We take a subject: so I, then we take the auxiliary verb would. Then you take the compliment of the verb to be. I would be... and then you need the present participle of your verb. In this case we're going to use the verb to earn. So, earn plus ...ing, earning. So that gives us, I would be earning. You would be earning. He would be earning. She'd be earning. It'd be earning. We'd be earning. You'd be earning. They'd be earning. Yes. Notice the contraction of would to 'd. To make negatives put not after the would. I would not be earning. You would not be earning. He, she, it wouldn't be earning. We wouldn't be earning. You wouldn't be earning. They wouldn't be earning. To make questions swap the position of the subject and the auxiliary would. Would I be earning? Would you be earning? Would he, she, or it be earning? Would we be earning? Would you be earning? Would they be earning? And then notice we can put a question word also at the beginning. How much would I be earning? How much would you be earning? So there you are, that's how to make the conditional continuous. So, thanks for watching and we'll see each other in another video. Bye for now.

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This lesson is part of our free English Verb Tenses course. Work through the series in order, or jump to the tense or structure you need next.

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