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The Third Conditional

The document discusses the third conditional, which is used to talk about impossible past conditions and their results. It provides examples of how to form the third conditional using the past perfect tense for the conditional clause (e.g. "if she had studied") and "would have" plus the past participle for the result clause (e.g. "she would have passed"). It also notes that both the condition and result are impossible because they refer to the past.

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Bryan Anthony Aranda Castillo
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560 views

The Third Conditional

The document discusses the third conditional, which is used to talk about impossible past conditions and their results. It provides examples of how to form the third conditional using the past perfect tense for the conditional clause (e.g. "if she had studied") and "would have" plus the past participle for the result clause (e.g. "she would have passed"). It also notes that both the condition and result are impossible because they refer to the past.

Uploaded by

Bryan Anthony Aranda Castillo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Third Conditional

We can use the Third Conditional to talk about 'impossible' conditions, impossible
because they are in the past and we cannot change what has happened.
That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also
like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.

We make the third conditional by using the past perfect after 'if' and then 'would
have' and the past participle in the second part of the sentence:

if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle

If she had studied, she would have passed the exam (but, really we know she
didn't study and so she didn't pass)
If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick (but I did eat a lot, and so I did
feel sick).
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you
did not win. :-(
if condition result

Past Perfect would have + past participle

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win
the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can
never be true because it is finished. We use the Past Perfect tense to talk
about the impossible past condition. We use would have + past participle to
talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third
conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.
Look at these example senteces:

if condition result

Past Perfect would have + past participle

If I had seen Mary, I would have told her.

If Tamara had been free yesterday, I would have invited her.

If they had not passed their exam, their teacher would have been sad.

If he hadnt overslept, he wouldnt have missed the bus.

If it had rained yesterday, what would you have done?


result if condition

would have + past participle Past Perfect

I would have told Mary if I had seen her.

I would have invited Tara if she had been free yesterday.

Their teacher would have been sad if they had not passed their exam.

He wouldnt have missed the bus if he hadnt overslept.

What would you have done if it had rained yesterday?


NOTES:

The past perfect tense = had + past participle


In spoken English, subject + would AND subject + had are usually
contracted: Id, youd, shed, hed, wed, theyd.
When youre using this kind of conditional be careful with the
contractions. We use 'd for would and had.
If Id seen him, Id have asked him to come over. (had, would)
Examples:
Write the third conditional for these situations.
1. Yesterday they didnt leave early so they arrived late to work.

2. I didnt study harder so I didnt pass the test.

3. We didnt go fishing because it rained.

4. She missed the plane because she didnt take a taxi.


http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/third-conditional-exercise-
1.html

http://www.shertonenglish.com/resources/es/conditionals/type3.ph
p

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-conditional-third.htm

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