Second conditional

The second conditional is a structure used to express hypothetical, i.e. unlikely or impossible situations and their natural consequence.

An illustrative example is "If I were a rich man, I'd..." Another typical example is used to give advice: "If I were you, I'd stay in bed."

Structure
In the classic example the first part of the conditional has an "If" statement.


 * "If I knew the answer ..."

Note that the verb appears to be in the past tense though the sense is present.

The second part of the conditional has the modal verb "would".


 * "If I knew the answer I would tell you."

Note that the order of the two parts may be changed, and that "would" is not the only modal verb which can be used.