ESL Music Ideas - 2nd Conditional - "If I Were a Boy"

If I were a boy is a new hit from Beyonce. It uses the 2nd Conditional to talk about what she would do if she were a boy. The lyrics use this hypothetical situation to show the differences between men and women.

It is an excellent example of using were for all subjects in conditional sentences.




Here is a cloze listening exercise you can print off and use in your classroom:

Beyonce
If I Were A Boy

If I were a boy
Even just for a day
I’d roll out of bed in the _______________
And throw on what I wanted and go
Drink beer with the guys
And chase after ________________
I’d kick it with who I wanted
And I’d never get confronted for it
Because they’d stick up for me

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I’d be a better man
I’d listen to her
Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
Cause he’s taken you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

If I were a boy
I would turn off my __________________
Tell everyone its broken
So they think
that I was sleeping alone
I’d put myself first
And make the __________________as I go
Cause I know that she’d be faithful
Waiting for me to come home (to come home)

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I’d be a better man
I’d listen to her
Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted (wanted)
Cause he’s taken you for granted (granted)
And everything you had got destroyed

It’s a little too late for you to come __________________
Say its just a mistake
Think I forgive you like that
If you thought I would _________________for you
You thought wrong


But you're just a boy
You don’t understand (yea you don’t understand)
How it feels to love a girl
Someday you’ll wish you were a better man
You don’t listen to her
You don’t care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted
Cause you've taken her for granted
And everything you had got destroyed
But you're just a boy…


For grammar lessons and tests on the 2nd conditional, check out these sites:

2nd Conditional Lesson

2nd Conditional Test