Katie Melua is a popular singer from Georgia. She had
her first big hit with Nine Million Bicycles.

This song is a new song that is relaxing and romantic.
The English grammar that it uses is the 2nd
Conditional. The title of the song is a conditional
sentence.

If You were a sailboat, I would......

The idea of the song shows how the 2nd conditional is
about unreal situations. Obviously the man she sings
about is not a sailboat.

One interesting grammar point is the way the lyrics use
If you were but also If I was. If I was is grammatically
incorrect. With the 2nd Conditional, all subjects take
the verb were. This means:

If I were, If you were, If she were, etc.

However, it is common in spoken English to make this
grammar mistake. A good song that shows the correct
use of the grammar is Beyonce's If I Were a Boy.

Listen to the video for If You Were a Sailboat and try
the listening exercise. Remember that verbs that
follow modals are always base verbs.

Listening Exercise

Listen to the song and fill in the spaces with the correct words

If you were a , I would trail you
If you were a piece of wood, I’d nail you to the floor
If you were a sailboat, I would you to the shore
If you were a river, I would swim you
If you were a house, I would in you all my days
If you were a preacher, I’d begin to change my ways

Sometimes I believe in fate
But the chances we always seem to ring more true
You took a chance on loving me
I took a chance on loving you

If I was in , I know you’d spring me
If I were a telephone, you’d ring me all day long
If I was in pain, I know you’d me soothing songs

Sometimes I believe in fate
But the chances we create
Always seem to ring more true
You took a chance on loving me
I took a chance on loving you

If I was hungry, you would me
If I was in darkness, you would lead me to the light
If I was a book, I know you’d me every night

If you were a cowboy, I would trail you
If you were a piece of wood, I’d nail you to the floor
If you were a sailboat, I would sail you to the shore
If you were a sailboat, I would sail you to the shore

If You Ware a Sailboat - Katie Melua