Final answer:
A conditional statement in programming tells the program how one action happens because of another. It uses an if-then structure to determine the execution of certain code based on a condition.
Step-by-step explanation:
A conditional statement in programming tells the program how one action happens because of another. It is expressed as an if-then statement, where the code following the if condition will be executed if the condition is true. For example, if a student's grade is above 90, then they pass the exam. In this case, the code following the if condition will be executed only if the student's grade is above 90.