The Wedding Ultimatum — First Conditional & Time Clauses (B1 Grammar)

B1 - 1st conditional + future time clauses

Dear Dora

PICTURE

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"If you invite that man, I won't come to your wedding. And if I don't come, your grandmother won't come either."

First conditional · imperatives · *unless* · present tense after *when, until, as soon as, before, after*

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

Ultimatums

An ultimatum is a demand: "Do this, or else." Discuss in pairs.

1. Have you ever given one — or received one?

2. What happened next?

3. Do ultimatums ever actually work?

PICTURE

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BEFORE YOU READ

An advice column

Jess, 31, is getting married in October. Her mother has given her an ultimatum about the guest list.

READ AND ANSWER

PICTURE

1. What exactly is the ultimatum?

2. Does the columnist think Jess should accept it?

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READING

Dear Rosa — the advice column that doesn't lie to you

Jess writes:

I'm getting married in October, and my mother has given me an ultimatum. My father left when I was seven, and he and my mother haven't spoken for twenty years. Last month he wrote to me for the first time in a decade, asking to come to the wedding. When my mother found out, she said, very calmly: "If you invite that man, I won't come to your wedding. And if I don't come, your grandmother won't come either."

My fiancé says it's simple: "It's our day. If she loves you, she'll be there." But he doesn't understand my family. My mother never bluffs. If I invite my father, I'll lose my mother — at my own wedding. If I don't invite him, I'll always wonder what a different choice would have looked like.

I have to send the invitations soon. As soon as I decide, I'll write the guest list and this will be finished. But I can't decide.

— Jess, 31

READING (continued)

Dear Rosa — the advice column that doesn't lie to you

Rosa replies:

Let's be honest about what's happening: your mother is asking you to end a relationship before it restarts, and she's using your wedding day to do it. That's not protection. That's control — even if it comes from twenty years of real pain.

Here is what I suggest. Don't send any invitations until you've spoken to your father — not by letter, in person. Meet him for one coffee. If he takes responsibility for the past, you'll know he's serious. If he spends the meeting blaming your mother, you'll have your answer, and you'll lose nothing. Unless you meet him, you'll be deciding about a stranger.

Then talk to your mother — after you meet him, not before. Tell her what you decide and why. She may still refuse to come. But hear this: if your mother misses your wedding, that will be her choice, not your failure. And when you look at the photos in thirty years, you'll want to know that the guest list was written by you.

— Rosa

COMPREHENSION

Complete the chain of consequences according to the text.

1. If Jess invites her father, her mother ____________.

2. If her mother doesn't come, her grandmother ____________.

3. Rosa says: don't send the invitations until ____________.

4. If the father blames the mother at the coffee meeting, Jess will ____________.

5. According to Rosa, if the mother misses the wedding, that will be ____________.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

Real futures and their consequences

a) If you invite that man, I won't come to your wedding.

b) If she loves you, she'll be there.

c) Don't send any invitations until you've spoken to your father.

d) As soon as I decide, I'll write the guest list.

e) Unless you meet him, you'll be deciding about a stranger.

f) When you look at the photos in thirty years, you'll want to know...

1. In (a) and (b), are these imaginary situations or real future possibilities? What tense follows if? What form is in the other clause? Can we say If you will invite that man?

2. In (c), what replaces the will clause? Look at the verb Don't send.

3. In (d) and (f), as soon as and when talk about the future — but what tense follows them?

4. Rewrite (e) using if ... not. So unless = ________ .

5. Which of these work like when? until · before · after · as soon as · yesterday

THE RULES

Complete the rules

• First conditional: if + present ________ , will / won't + infinitive — for real future possibilities and their consequences. An ________ can replace the will clause.

• ________ = if ... not.

• After when, as soon as, until, before, after with a future meaning, use the ________ tense, NOT will.

CAREFUL

The if clause can come second, with no comma: I won't come if you invite that man. Same meaning, same rules.

PRACTICE

Circle the correct form, or complete with the verb in brackets.

1. If she ________ (find out) from someone else, she'll be furious.

2. I won't relax until the invitations go / will go out.

3. Unless he apologises / doesn't apologise, I won't meet him again.

4. As soon as you ________ (know) the date, tell me.

5. ________ (not make) any promises before you talk to your mother.

6. If your father comes / will come, where will he sit?

7. We'll have the ceremony outside if it ________ (not rain).

8. I'll call you after the meeting finishes / will finish.

TASK

The negotiation

Role-play Jess's coffee with her father. Student A: Jess. Student B: the father.

• Each of you must use at least three first conditionals or time clauses.

• Useful: If you come, ... · I'll only agree if ... · Unless you ..., ... · As soon as the wedding is over, ...

• Report the outcome to the class: is he on the guest list?

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

GIST The mother refuses to attend if the father is invited. Rosa does not tell Jess to obey or to defy — she tells her to meet her father first, in person, and then decide for herself.

COMPREHENSION 1 ...won't come to the wedding. 2 ...won't come either. 3 ...she has spoken to her father, in person. 4 ...have her answer (and lose nothing). 5 ...her mother's choice, not Jess's failure.

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 Real future possibilities; present simple after if; will / won't + infinitive; no — never will in the if clause. 2 An imperative. 3 A present tense (simple or perfect). 4 If you don't meet him... → unless = if ... not. 5 until, before, after, as soon as — not yesterday.

RULES simple · imperative · unless · present

PRACTICE 1 finds out

2 go

3 apologises

4 know

5 Don't make

6 comes

7 doesn't rain

8 finishes