Learn English with Friends - Second Conditional Sentences

This English language educational video is suitable for intermediate level EFL/ESL adult learners and shows a short clip from the American television series Friends.

The friends ask and answer a hypothetical or imaginary question, "What would you do if you were omnipotent for a day?"

This is a type 2 conditional sentence in question form, featuring the standard structure of two reversible clauses:

(if + past) + (would + bare infinitive)

The question and answer revolve around the word 'omnipotent', which means, 'having unlimited power, able to do anything'.

As usual Joey, the last speaker, misunderstands, confusing 'omnipotent' with 'impotent'. Impotent means, 'unable to achieve an erection', which is why he refers to 'little Joey' being dead.

The clip ends with Joey thinking his friend Ross is impotent because 'omnipotent' sounds a little like 'I'm impotent'. He expresses sympathy and explains that he thought it was just a hypothetical question, which was in fact how the conversation started.