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Pitch it to the Sharks! First vs second conditional for plans and dreams

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches the first vs second conditional, real plans against dreams, through Shark Tank, the TV show where entrepreneurs pitch to investors.

Grammar
The first conditional (If you invest, you'll get ten percent.) for a real plan, offer or promise, and the second (If we had a store, we'd sell more.) for a dream, with no will or would after if.
Topic
How a Shark Tank pitch works, from the ask to the deal, with words such as entrepreneur, invest, prototype and mentor.
Activities
Episode notes to read, Darius's pitch and a listener's message to hear, self-checking drills, a practice chat, pitch-building steps and a 90-second pitch.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: got a big idea?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: pitch timeVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: welcome to the Shark Tank

    • Look at the photo: where the Sharks sitPictureUnlock
    • Read the episode notesArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: Darius in the spotlight

    • Listen to Riley and DariusListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's Take: Joanna's messageListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: a real deal or a dream?

    • Study the scheme: a real plan or a dream?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: a real plan or a dream?Choose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the verbs in bracketsFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: a real plan and a dreamFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: real or a dream?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: your 90-second pitch

    • Choose the right replies: practice your pitch with RileyChatTry it
    • Put the parts of Darius's pitch in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Sort the phrases into the correct columns: which part of the pitch?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a pitch templateChoose the optionUnlock
    • Open a box and answer: pitch it in 90 seconds!Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: real or a dream?Choose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: a real plan or a dream?Fill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: new sentencesQuizUnlock
    • Put the parts of Adele's pitch in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: the hosts answer JoannaDrag and dropUnlock

34 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Business vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • deal
  • mentor
  • shark
  • quarter
  • prototype
  • batch
  • spotlight
  • confident
  • applause

Grammar: first vs second conditional: a real plan or a dream?

The first and second conditionals both start with if, but they don't mean the same. The first is for something that can really happen: If you invest, you'll get ten percent. The second is for a dream: If we had a store, we'd sell more. In a pitch, learners ask first whether it can really happen, then choose the form.

A real plan or a dream?

First conditional: something real and likely in the future. Second conditional: something imagined or unlikely.

Two conditionals, two meanings

First: if + present simple, then will or won't + base form, for a real plan, offer or promise. Second: if + past simple, then would or wouldn't, for something that isn't true now or is very unlikely. With be, the second uses were: If I were rich…

TypeIf-clauseMain clauseUse it for
FirstIf + present simple: If you invest…will / won't + base form: …you'll get ten percent.a real plan, offer or promise: it can really happen
SecondIf + past simple (be → were): If we had a store… If I were rich…would / wouldn't + base form ('d): …we'd sell more.a dream: it isn't true now, or it's very unlikely

Every person, in both forms

Each row of the table pairs a real plan with a dream for the same person: If he brings a prototype, he'll get fifty dollars, but If he had a factory, he'd make a million bookmarks. Darius can bring a prototype; he has no factory.

PersonFirst: a real planSecond: a dream
IIf I pitch well on Friday, I'll get a deal.If I had a million dollars, I'd invest in ten start-ups.
youIf you invest today, you'll get ten percent.If you were a Shark, you'd hear pitches every day.
heIf he brings a prototype, he'll get fifty dollars.If he had a factory, he'd make a million bookmarks.
sheIf she likes the idea, she'll make a prototype.If she were on TV, she'd pitch a backpack.
itIf it works, it'll sell at the bookstore.If it were made of gold, it would cost a lot.
weIf we sell fifty, we'll pay Riley back.If we had a store, we'd sell more.
theyIf they say yes, they'll have a deal.If they were rich, they'd buy a TV studio.

Real or a dream? Check the facts

The facts decide the form. Riley can really invest, so her offer is first conditional: If you bring a prototype, I'll invest. Joanna isn't on TV, so her dream is second conditional: If I were on Shark Tank, I'd pitch a backpack.

Real: it can happen → first

  • Riley's real offer: If you bring a prototype, I'll invest.
  • A plan for tomorrow: If it rains, we'll sell inside.
  • A promise: If you buy two, I'll give you one free.

A dream: it isn't true now → second

  • Darius has no factory: If we had a factory, we'd make a million.
  • Riley isn't rich: If I were rich, I'd invest in it.
  • Joanna isn't on TV: If I were on Shark Tank, I'd pitch a backpack.

No will or would after if, and no mixing

The if-clause takes a present or past form, never will or would: If it rains, not If it will rain. Present goes with will, past with would, so If you invest, you'd get… is wrong. A comma follows an if-clause that comes first.

No will or would after if

In the if-clause, use the present simple (first) or the past simple (second), never will or would: If it rains, we'll sell inside (not: If it will rain). If I were rich, I'd invest (not: If I would be rich).

Don't mix them

A present if-clause goes with will, a past if-clause goes with would. Not: If you invest, you'd get ten percent. Not: If we had a store, we'll sell more. In a real plan, use will: If we sell more, we'll open a store (not: we would open).

The comma

If-clause first? Add a comma: If it rains, we'll sell inside. Main clause first? No comma: We'll sell inside if it rains. Questions work the same way: What will I get if I invest?

In the studio

  • If I get a deal, you'll wash the mugs.
  • If I invest a hundred dollars, what will I get?
  • If you don't bring a prototype, I won't invest.
  • If we had a factory, we'd make a million bookmarks!
  • If Footnote were on TV, every reader would want one.
  • If I were on Shark Tank, I'd pitch a backpack with a light inside.

Common mistakes

  • If you invest, you'd get ten percent.

    If you invest, you'll get ten percent.

    a real offer: present + will

  • If we had a store, we'll sell more.

    If we had a store, we'd sell more.

    a dream: past + would

  • If it will rain, we'll sell inside.

    If it rains, we'll sell inside.

    no will after if

  • If I would be rich, I'd invest in it.

    If I were rich, I'd invest in it.

    no would after if; be → were

More lessons on this grammar: Second conditional lessons and exercises · Zero and first conditional lessons and exercises

Try the first vs second conditional exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 20 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • make real offers and plans with the first conditional: If you bring me a prototype by Friday, I'll invest fifty dollars.
  • describe dreams with the second conditional: If we had a factory, we'd make a million bookmarks. If I were on Shark Tank, I'd pitch a backpack.
  • choose the form by meaning and never mix the two: If you invest, you'll get ten percent, not you'd get
  • give a 90-second pitch in five parts, from Hello, Sharks! to If you invest today, you'll get ten percent.

Lesson 3 is the third lesson of Start-up stories, unit 1 of English B1.2 · Changemakers. It brings back the first conditional of A2.2 lesson 15 and the second conditional of lessons 1 and 2, and asks learners to choose between them by meaning. Lesson 4 closes the unit with also, too and either. A pitch needs both forms: a real offer for the investor and a dream about the future.

Students spin a wheel of questions about inventions, money and nerves, then learn twelve words, from pitch to applause, with pictures and audio. They read episode notes on how Shark Tank works and on Mikaila Ulmer's deal, then hear Darius pitch a cat's-paw bookmark to Riley, who plays a Shark, and a college student from New Jersey describe her backpack idea, both AI-voiced. Four self-checking drills follow the scheme, including a table that turns each plan into a dream. The speaking chapter rehearses a pitch with Riley in a chat, orders and sorts the parts of a model pitch, fills a template and ends with 90-second pitches.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: four word drills (a match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game), a choice and a gap-fill on real plans and dreams, word order, a quiz on new sentences, Adele's pitch to put in order and the hosts' answer to Joanna with words to drag in.

Grammar:
first conditional · second conditional · first vs second conditional · real vs imagined
Topic:
Shark Tank · pitches · start-ups · entrepreneurs · investors · Mikaila Ulmer · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Draw two columns on the board, It can really happen and It's a dream, and sort students' own sentences about next weekend into them before you show the forms.
  • Link back to lesson 2: students already know Mikaila Ulmer's lemonade, so ask what a TV investor would want from her before they read how her deal went.
  • Play Darius's pitch twice: first for the five parts of a pitch, then for each if sentence, with students calling out plan or dream after each one.
  • Keep a timer on the board for the pitches: 90 seconds each, the five parts in order, and one question from a classmate playing a Shark: If I invest, what will I get?

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The whole course: English B1.2 · Changemakers

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, about people and ideas that changed things: start-ups, future cities, food, memory, customs, art, volunteers and adventure. The podcast team of English B1.1 is back for a season called Changemakers. Learners use the second conditional, the passive, reported speech, the past perfect, relative clauses and verb patterns, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Start-up stories

    the second conditional, If I were you, the first vs the second conditional, also, too, as well and besides

    1. Lesson 1The garage where Silicon Valley beganThe second conditional for imagined situations
    2. Lesson 2Would you sell lemonade to save bees?Second conditional questions and If I were you
    3. Lesson 3 · you're herePitch it to the Sharks!First vs second conditional: a real plan or a dream?
    4. Lesson 4A bakery that hires anyone?Adding ideas: also, too, as well, either and besides

  2. Unit 2 Cities of tomorrow

    the passive in the present simple and the past simple, with modals, and in the present perfect and present continuous

    1. Lesson 5Can you cross a city without going outside?The present simple passive
    2. Lesson 6A park on top of a freeway?The past simple passive
    3. Lesson 7Can a desert city catch the rain?The passive with modals
    4. Lesson 8Can an old railroad become a park?The present perfect and present continuous passive

  3. Unit 3 Food for the future

    comparative and superlative adverbs, the future passive, verbs with prepositions, phrasal verbs with up, away and out

    1. Lesson 9Why did Carver tell farmers to plant peanuts?Comparative and superlative adverbs
    2. Lesson 10Lettuce from space?The future passive with will be
    3. Lesson 11Why do corn, beans and squash grow together?Verbs with dependent prepositions
    4. Lesson 12What happens to dining-hall leftovers?Phrasal verbs with up, away and out

  4. Unit 4 Memory and learning

    reported statements with say and tell, tense changes, time and place words, reported questions, requests and commands

    1. Lesson 13Can you train your memory?Reported statements with say and tell
    2. Lesson 14He got better but never rememberedReported statements about the past
    3. Lesson 15Can a TV show teach the alphabet?Reported questions
    4. Lesson 16Can you learn a new skill at 70?Reported requests and commands

  5. Unit 5 Customs and manners

    degree adverbs such as quite and pretty, the past perfect, the past perfect vs the past simple, make vs do

    1. Lesson 17To tip or not to tip?Adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs
    2. Lesson 18They'd already started without me!The past perfect: had + past participle
    3. Lesson 19What should you do at a powwow?Past perfect vs past simple
    4. Lesson 20How do you accept a lei?Make vs do: collocations to learn

  6. Unit 6 Art and design

    relative clauses with whose, non-defining relative clauses, relative clauses without a pronoun, when and why

    1. Lesson 21Art that moves in the airRelative clauses with whose
    2. Lesson 22A heart that sells a stateNon-defining relative clauses
    3. Lesson 23What would you paint on a city wall?Relative clauses without who, which or that
    4. Lesson 24Why does the sign say Hollywood?Relative adverbs: when, why and where

  7. Unit 7 Volunteers and changemakers

    verb + -ing or to, -ing as a subject and after prepositions, stop, remember, try and forget, prefer and would rather

    1. Lesson 25A day on, not a day off?Verb + -ing or verb + to
    2. Lesson 26The house that welcomed a neighborhoodGerunds as subjects and after prepositions
    3. Lesson 27A walk that lasted 24 hoursStop, remember, forget and try + to or -ing
    4. Lesson 28Head, heart, hands and healthPrefer, would rather and would prefer

  8. Unit 8 Adventure and challenge

    possessive 's vs of, must and can't for deduction, might, may and could for possibility, the meanings of get

    1. Lesson 29Could you climb a fourteener?Possessive 's, s' or of
    2. Lesson 30It must be here somewhere!Must and can't for deduction
    3. Lesson 31How did Houdini get out?Might, may and could for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A capital with no road inThe meanings of get

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between the first and second conditional?
The first conditional is for what can really happen, and the second is for what is imagined or very unlikely. If you bring me a prototype by Friday, I'll invest fifty dollars is Riley's real offer. If we had a factory, we'd make a million bookmarks is Darius's dream: he has no factory. Pitch it to the Sharks!, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, practices exactly this choice.
How do you form the first and second conditional?
First: if + present simple, then will + base form, as in If it rains, we'll sell inside. Second: if + past simple, then would + base form, as in If I had time, I'd make a prototype. With be, the second uses were: If you were a Shark, you'd hear pitches every day. Both take a comma when the if-clause comes first.
What are examples of first and second conditional sentences?
Real plans from Pitch it to the Sharks!: If you invest today, you'll get ten percent. If the judges like my idea, I'll get a table at the city fair in May. Dreams: If I had a million dollars, I'd open a factory. If Footnote were on TV, every reader would want one. Same if, different reality: the speaker of each dream knows it isn't true now.
Is it "If you invest, you'll get" or "If you invest, you'd get"?
For a real offer, it's If you invest, you'll get ten percent, because a present if-clause goes with will. You'd get needs a past if-clause and a deal you only imagine: If Riley invested, she'd get twenty percent. Mixing them, as in If we had a store, we'll sell more, is a mistake the drills in Pitch it to the Sharks! keep catching.
Can you use will or would after if?
Not in these two conditionals: the if-clause takes the present simple for a real plan and the past simple for a dream. Say If it rains, we'll sell inside, not If it will rain, and If I were rich, I'd invest in it, not If I would be rich. A warning tip in the scheme of Pitch it to the Sharks! on edio.ai shows both.
How does a Shark Tank pitch work?
On Shark Tank, an ABC show first aired on August 9, 2009, entrepreneurs pitch their business to investors called Sharks. The Sharks use their own money and want to own a piece of the business; if the entrepreneur says yes to an offer, they have a deal. In an episode from March 20, 2015, Shark Daymond John offered Mikaila Ulmer $60,000 for 25 percent of her company, and she accepted.
What should a start-up pitch include?
The model pitch in Pitch it to the Sharks! has five parts: hello, problem, product, buyers and the ask. Darius's version runs from Hello, Shark! My name is Darius to if you invest a hundred dollars today, you'll get ten percent of the company. Useful words for it are entrepreneur, invest, prototype, batch, deal and quarter, which is one of four equal parts, or 25 percent.
How do I teach the first vs second conditional to B1 students?
Teach the meaning before the forms: give pairs such as a real offer and a dream about money, and ask which one can really happen. Then show that the real one uses the present and will, the dream the past and would. Pitch it to the Sharks! on edio.ai follows that order, from a TV pitch and a studio role-play to the scheme and four drills.
What's a good game for practicing the first and second conditional?
Play plan or dream: read out sentence starts such as If I win the Mug Bet… or If I were a Shark…, students finish them with the right form, and the class calls out plan or dream. The 90-second pitches in Pitch it to the Sharks! make a second round, where the prompts ask for a real offer or a dream.
How do you practice the first and second conditional one-to-one?
Role-play an investor meeting: the student pitches a product, and the teacher asks If I invest, what will I get? and What would you do if you had a million dollars? In Pitch it to the Sharks!, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, the chat does this with Riley in Shark mode, who helps the student practice for a school start-up fair.
What's good homework for practicing the first and second conditional?
Good homework gives sentences with a clear context, so only one form fits: A real plan: If it rains on Saturday, the fair will move into the gym. A dream: Adele has no money. If she won a thousand dollars, she'd buy a 3D printer. The homework of Pitch it to the Sharks! on edio.ai has ten self-checking tasks, including Adele's pitch to put in order.
Are there interactive exercises for the first and second conditional?
Yes: drills and a chat that mark answers as you go. Without signing up, this page plays three parts of Pitch it to the Sharks!, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: Darius's pitch to Riley, a gap-fill with verbs in brackets and the practice chat with Riley. The lesson's other parts need an account.
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