Second conditional
We use the second conditional in English when we want to talk
about unreal situations or things we don’t think will happen. We use it to talk
about the possible results of these situations. It is made like this:
if + past simple, … would + infinitive
Here are some examples:
If we all recycled more, there would be a lot less waste in the world.
If I lived by the sea, I’d go swimming every day.
A conditional sentence has two parts. The if part tells us about
the unreal or unlikely situation. The would part tells us the possible
results of this situation.
If I lived by the sea, … (This is the imaginary situation.)
… I’d go swimming every day. (This is the result of the imaginary situation.)
The two parts can come in any order. When the if part comes first in the
sentence, we put a comma between the if part and the would part. You don’t
use a comma when the would part comes first.
If I had more free time, I would be more relaxed.
I would be more relaxed if I had more free time.
We use the past simple in the if part – but second conditional sentences
aren’t about the past. We use the past form to show that the situation isn’t real.
The would part tells us the result of this imaginary situation.
We sometimes use were instead of was in the if part of a second conditional
sentence. It means the same, but when we use were, the sentence sounds
more formal.
If it were time to leave, I’d go.
We’d have lunch outside if it weren’t raining.
EXAMPLES:
Harry
If everyone reused their plastic bags at the supermarket, you'd see a lot less
litter around in the countryside.
Mike
I'd be more relaxed if I had more free time.
Harry
If I were younger, I would probably quit my job and go travelling around the
world. But I'm quite old, so I have a lot of responsibilities.
Mike
The world would be a better place if we all spoke more than one language.
Harry
If animals ruled the world, humans would have to respect them and work with
them. We couldn't just keep them as pets or eat them.
Mike
If we all recycled more, we'd save a lot of money.
Harry
If I lived in Japan, I would eat sushi almost every day, but in London it's very
expensive.
Third conditional
We use the third conditional to talk about imagined past events: things that might have
happened in the past, but didn’t happen.
If I’d known it was your birthday, I’d have bought you a present.
If the taxi had arrived on time, he wouldn’t have missed the plane.
A conditional sentence has two parts. In the third conditional, the if part is the
imaginary situation in the past, and the main part is what could have happened
(but didn’t happen) as a result. We make the third conditional with if + past
perfect, and would have + past participle.
If I’d known it was your birthday… (This is the imaginary situation in the past)
I’d have bought you a present. (This is the imaginary result of the situation in
the past)
The two parts can come in any order. When we write, we put a comma between
the if part and the main part. You don’t use a comma when the main part
comes first.
If I’d known it was your birthday, I’d have bought you a present.
I’d have bought you a present if I’d known it was your birthday.
If the taxi had arrived on time, Jack wouldn’t have missed the plane.
Jack wouldn’t have missed the plane if the taxi had arrived on time.
We use the past perfect in the if part to show the situation is imaginary and
didn’t actually happen. The main part of the sentence tells us the imaginary
result of this situation.
If there had been any snow, we’d have gone skiing. (There wasn’t any snow;
we didn’t go skiing.)
If it hadn’t been raining, we’d have had a picnic.(It was raining; we didn’t have
a picnic.)
Form
Positive
If you’d asked meto marry you, I’d have said no.
We’d have been in trouble if we’d missed the last train.
Negative
She wouldn’t have become ill if she’d taken the medicine.
It would have been better if they hadn’t come to the party.
If you hadn’t been so friendly, I wouldn’t have talked to you.
Question
What would they have done if they’d lost their jobs?
If I’d told him the truth, how would he have felt?
Short answer
In short answers, you use would/wouldn’t.
If you’d needed help, would you have asked me?
Yes, I would. / No, I wouldn’t.
Take note: past continuous
We can use the past continuous in the if part of the sentence.
If he’d been driving morecarefully, he wouldn’t have had an accident.
I wouldn’t have met my girlfriend if I’d been living abroad.
Take note: modals
We can use other modal verbs in the main part, for
example might. Might shows we are less certain than when we use will.
We might have been happierif we’d boughtthe other house.
If he hadn’t got up so late,he might not have missed the train.
Take note: ‘I wish …’and ‘If only …’
We use I wish or If only with the past perfect when we are sorry about
something that happened in the past, and we imagine doing things differently.
I wish I’d stayed in bed this morning. (I’m having a bad day today.)
If only I’d stayed in bed this morning.
I wish I’d picked the other horse! (My horse didn’t win the race.)
If only I’d picked the other horse!
Spoken English
In the third conditional, we usually use a short form of had and had not when
we speak: I had = I’d, I had not = I hadn’t. We also use a short form
of would and would not: I would = I'd, he would = he'd, I would not =
I wouldn’t, etc.
We’d have been unhappy if we’d lost the game.
We wouldn’t have been happy if we hadn’t won the game.
The third conditional is sometimes confusing because I’d can mean both I
had and I would – so listen carefully! And remember that I’d in the if part is I
had, and I’d in the main part is I would.
Mixed conditionals
These are sentences that combine two different types of conditional patterns.
Mixed third/second conditional form
The most common mixed conditional combination is when we have a third
conditional in the if-clause (if + past perfect) followed by a second
conditional (would + infinitive) in the main clause.
If he'd taken the medication, he would be feeling better.
Meaning and use
With this mixed third/second conditional combination we are contrasting an
imagined or real event in the past with the present result of that.
If they'd taken more care, she wouldn't be pregnant now. (They didn't take care.
She is pregnant)
If he had trained more, he wouldn't have collapsed before the end of the
race. (He didn't train. He did collapse)
Negative
If he hadn't drunk so much whisky, he wouldn't feel so bad now.
Question
Would you have a better job if you'd studied harder?
