Por Michel Rosas, professor de inglês e gerente de marketing na Companhia de Idiomas

Você já deve ter visto por aí algumas frases em inglês usando a palavra “if”, mas sabia que elas têm uma estrutura própria para serem usadas corretamente?

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Elas são chamadas de “condicionais” em inglês, e sempre aparecem em duplas: uma contendo “if” e a outra complementando a primeira. Mas existem quatro tipos de condicionais diferentes: zero, first, second and third conditional. Elas só se diferenciam no tempo verbal e na interpretação.

Por exemplo, a primeira condicional é usada para expressar o que vai (ou pode) acontecer se outra coisa ocorrer primeiro: “if I work hard, I will get a promotion”. Já a segunda condicional expressa uma situação imaginária, que talvez nem se concretize: “if I won the lottery, I could travel the world”.

Mas hoje vamos nos concentrar apenas na primeira condicional. Como você já viu, ela é usada para expressar uma possibilidade. E a estrutura é simples: a frase que contém “if” vai ser escrita no presente, enquanto a segunda frase será escrita no futuro (com will, going to, etc), can ou might (ambos usados para expressar possibilidades).

Alguns exemplos:

If it rains, I will need an umbrella.

If you need any help with this project, I can lend you a hand.

We might have an important meeting tomorrow if the results are not as expected.

EXERCISE

Put the sentences below in the correct places in the text.

a) If your company or manager doesn’t have a specific framework for you to set goals in your job, you might consider setting your own career goals.

b) If you want to switch from a job in sales to a job in marketing, you might set milestones along the way that address how to develop the skills and experience marketing employers are looking for.

c) If you find that a goal is not achievable because you don’t have enough experience, one of your new goals should be to gain more experience.

d) You can also set your own goals if you are self-employed.

e) If you are in your first professional developer job and your goal is to become a senior-level .NET developer, you might need to set smaller, short-term goals before reaching this larger goal.

f) If you haven’t achieved your goal, you might give yourself extended time or reconsider whether your goal is achievable and realistic.

g) If your goal is to get promoted to the next level at your company, you might give yourself six months.

Setting Goals To Improve Your Career

Setting specific, measurable goals can provide a path to improve your career and achieve certain accomplishments. You can use goal setting when given a certain task or project, or to personally advance in some way. You can set goals towards promotions, creativity, education and many other various ways to improve your life and career.

Setting professional goals can help you both complete certain tasks or projects and achieve any personal career goals you might have. (1) _____ . (2) _____ . Your career goals should address both your current situation and your larger long-term career ambitions.

How to set goals

While there are several different ways to set goals, there are a few steps you can take to ensure the best possibility of success. Your goals should have five key elements to make them achievable. These five elements make up what is known as the “SMART goal” framework. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. Let’s take a closer look at how to set a SMART goal:

1.Make your goal as clear and detailed as possible

For example, instead of “I want to be better at public speaking,” you can say, “I want to successfully give a 10–15 minute presentation to an audience of 50 or more people.”

2.Define how you will measure success

For example, (3) _____ . To do this, you might set your measurement as learning and focusing on one skill per month.

3.Check whether your goals are achievable

Setting goals you can accomplish within a reasonable timeframe will help keep you motivated and focused. You should work to understand the full scope of your goal ahead of time to ensure it is possible to accomplish.

For example, (4) _____ . (5) _____ .

4.Make sure your goal is relevant

You should set goals that align with your values and contribute toward your long-term goals. Each goal you set should be relevant and meaningful to you, moving you closer toward where you want to be. To make sure you are setting relevant goals, you might ask yourself, "how will achieving this goal help me?" "Does accomplishing this goal contribute toward my larger, long-term goals? Why does this goal matter to me?”

5.Set a beginning and end date

Setting a timetable to achieve your goal can both help keep you motivated and on-schedule. Before setting a goal end-date, be sure to research all the milestones and possible roadblocks you might run into along the way. For example, (6) _____ . (7) _____ .

ANSWER KEY

1. A / 2. D / 3. B / 4. E / 5. C / 6. G / 7. F

SOURCE

Michel Rosas é formado em Publicidade e Propaganda pela Universidade de São Paulo, é coordenador de marketing e comunicação na Companhia de Idiomas e professor de inglês há 13 anos. É especialista em estratégias de engajamento e nutrição pela Northwestern University e estratégias de marketing de conteúdo pela Universidade da Califórnia, assim como vários cursos de análise estratégica e utilização de ferramentas de marketing digital. Também é colunista de inglês na Exame.com.