If you heat sugar, it melts: if and when
We use if or when with the present simple to talk about things that are always true. The result is also in the present simple. If you heat ice, it melts. When it rains, the streets get wet. If plants do not get water, they die. If the clause comes first, we put a comma before the result: If we book today, it is cheaper. If the result comes first, there is no comma: It is cheaper if we book today. Can is also possible in the result: If we are a group, we can get a discount.
| If / when clause | Result |
|---|---|
| If you heat ice, | it melts. |
| When it rains, | the streets get wet. |
| If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, | it boils. |
| If plants do not get water, | they die. |
How much is the boat trip?
It is 80 LE for one person. If we are a group of four, each person pays 70 LE.
So we get a discount if we go with our cousins!
Yes. If we book today, the guide keeps four seats for us.
Does everybody wear a life jacket?
Of course. The guide says that we must always wear one.
Layla likes to learn how things work. If she puts a spoon of sugar in hot tea, it melts. When she leaves ice outside in the sun, it melts. If she does not water her plants, they die. When the weather is cold, the water in the puddle freezes. Her teacher says: If you listen to the facts, you can learn a lot!
Fact chain. The grown-up starts a fact: If you heat ice, … The child finishes it: it melts. Then the child starts a new fact: When it rains, … and the grown-up finishes it. Try to find ten different facts, and check them together.