Improve your listening and writing skills by filling in the blanks in the song lyrics. These activities are designed for Beginners and Intermediates to learn new vocabulary related to a specific topic in a quick and fun way.
Today’s song Into My Arms is a love song by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. It is a nice, slow-paced tune where you can hear the second conditional in use.
Exercise
Fill in the missing words. – do – Leave – her – clear – angels – believe – did – That – Love – returning – came – ⇩
This activity is case sensitive so make sure to use capital letters when needed.
Grammar
‘If’ + second conditional
We use the second conditional to talk about unreal situations in the present or future.
We often use this structure with unlikely or hypothetical situations.
We use the structure if + subject + past simple; subject + would + verb. We can also exchange the if and would clauses:
If we were rich, we would travel the world.
If Sam was smarter, he would own the company by now.
You would help me if I needed you.
Elizabeth and Francis would make us work harder if they were the managers.
If I were baking a cake, I would burn it.
We make this structure negative when we place not between if and the subject, would and the subject, or in both places:
If you weren’t short, you would be a basketball star.
If Rachel wasn’t kind, she wouldn’t have so many friends.
I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t care about you.
We would own a home if the bank didn’t deny our loan application.
We make this structure interrogative when we place would + subject + past simple; if + subject + verb.
We use this structure to ask questions about unreal or unlikely situations:
Would they help us if we needed them?
Would everyone escape this building if it was burning?
Would Tristan have married Rachel if he hadn’t met Macy instead?
If you were an animal, would you be a bear?
If I was sick, would you visit me in the hospital?
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Thank teacher Marion, I loved the exercise !!!
I never heard this song. I like it.
It’s the first time I hear this song. It was easy to understand the vocabulary, but it’s difficult to comprehend.
Fantastic song now that I’ve red the words
Hi Marion,
thanks for this song that is both a prayer and a love lullaby. Nick Cave’s voice is perfect for it. Thanks to the use of second conditional, we can feel the desire of the singer to take advantage of the situations and things in case they would be different from what he believes in.
Take care!