Our first song about the second conditional: imagining. What would you do if you had a hammer, a bell, a song?
Learn from Songs · Unit 9b: Second conditional · A2–B1
If I Had a Hammer
A folk song that became an anthem of the civil rights movement: the second conditional for imaginary situations (If I had a hammer, I would…), If I were…, would / ’d, and the difference between the first and second conditional, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
If I had a hammer, I’d fix my mother’s door.
SOPHIA
Good! But in this song, the singer would use them to spread freedom, justice and love, all over the land.
DEMETRIA
That’s a big hammer.
Before you listen: the song
New York, 1949; Los Angeles, 1963
“If I Had a Hammer” was written in 1949 by the American folk singers Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, and first recorded by their group, the Weavers, as “The Hammer Song”.
In 1962, the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary made it a hit, and sang it at the great March on Washington in 1963, where Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. That same year, the Mexican-American singer Trini Lopez recorded a lively, clapping version at a nightclub in Los Angeles, and it became a hit all over the world.
In the song, the singer imagines: if he had a hammer, a bell or a song, he would use it everywhere to call for justice, freedom and love. At the end, he says he already has them all.
If I had a hammer…
Listen: the imagination
PHILO
Listen once. What three things does the singer imagine having? What would he do with them?
SOPHIA
Then listen for If I had and I’d. Answer Section A.
🔨 Listen to the song: “If I Had a Hammer” (Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, 1949), sung by Trini Lopez (1963).Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “If I Had a Hammer”, Trini Lopez.Read the lyrics →
The second conditional: imagining
DEMETRIA
If I had a hammer, I’d fix the door. If I were rich, I would travel.
SOPHIA
If + past simple, would + base verb for imaginary or unlikely situations, now or in the future. The past form doesn’t mean the past: it means “not real”. If I had wings, I would fly.
If I were
MARCOS
If I were a king… If she were here…
SOPHIA
With be, use were for all persons in the second conditional: If I were you, If he were taller. In informal speech, people also say If I was…, but were is the correct form for exams.
First or second conditional?
PHILO
If it rains, I’ll stay at home. If I had a dragon, I’d fly to Rome.
SOPHIA
First = a real possibility (If I see him, I’ll tell him). Second = imaginary or unlikely (If I saw a ghost, I’d scream). The choice shows how real you think it is!
Sophia’s comparison: the tools of peace
PHILO
Isaiah again: they shall beat their swords into ploughshares. Tools for building, not weapons for destroying.
SOPHIA
And Hephaestus, the smith of the gods, made with his hammer the shield of Achilles. On it, he showed a whole world at peace: weddings, harvests, dancing.
DEMETRIA
So the hammer can build a better world.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| If + past simple, would + verb | imaginary situations (second conditional) | If I had a hammer, I’d fix the door. |
| If I were… | were for all persons | If I were rich, I would travel. |
| would / ’d | the result | I’d ring the bell. |
| first vs second conditional | real vs imaginary | If it rains, I’ll… / If I had wings, I’d… |
| justice, freedom, warning, danger | vocabulary | They fought for freedom and justice. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What three things does the singer imagine having?
2. What would he use them for?
3. Who wrote it?
4. Where did Peter, Paul and Mary sing it in 1963?
5. How does Trini Lopez’s version sound?
6. What is the song about, in the end?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. If I a hammer, I’d fix the door. (have)
8. If I were rich, I travel the world.
9. If I a king, I’d build schools. (be)
10. If it rains tomorrow, I stay at home. (real possibility)
11. If I had wings, I’d to Rome. (fly)
12. They fought for freedom and .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “If I would have a hammer, I’d fix it.”
14. “If I were you, I’d ask her.”
15. “If I had money, I will buy a horse.”
16. “If I won the lottery, I’d help my family.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Imagine. Complete and share: If I had a hammer, I’d…, If I had a bell, I’d…, If I had a song, I’d sing about…
Discuss. 1. Can songs help to change the world? 2. If you could change one thing in your town, what would it be? 3. Why do you think this song was sung at the March on Washington?
Write (60–80 words). If I had… Write a short poem in the style of the song: three things you would like to have, and what you would do with them.