The Zero Conditional

We use the Zero Conditional to talk about something which happens in general. If, or when, something happens something else always happens. It can be used to talk about routines and facts.

If I can’t sleep, I read my book.
If you heat water, it becomes steam.

Look at the construction:

If	subject	present simple	subject	present simple
If	I	have a headache	I	take an aspirin
If	it	doesn’t rain for a while	there	is a shortage of water.
If	she	tries her best	she	always succeeds.

Look at the question form:

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	if + subject + present
What	do	you	do	if you are bored?
	Does	snow	melt	if you take it inside?
	Does	your mother	celebrate	if you score a goal?