Learn English With Katie
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Lessons
  • Shop
  • Contact

Third conditional

16/11/2021

1 Comment

 
Some time ago, I started a series of posts about conditional sentences in English and now it's time to finish it! So let's have a look at the third conditional. (You can learn about the other conditionals by clicking here: zero conditional, first conditional and second conditional.

​We make the third conditional with the past perfect after if and would + have + verb 3 in the other half of the sentence.

For example:
If the Titanic hadn't hit an iceberg, it wouldn't have sunk.
If she had worked harder, she would have passed her exams.

He wouldn't have met his future wife if he hadn't gone to that party!

Sometimes we use could or might instead of would.
If I had learnt French at school, I could have applied for this job.
I might have forgotten if you hadn't told me!


Occasionally, we use unless instead of if.
He wouldn't have come to the party unless you had invited him.
This has the same meaning as:
He wouldn't have come to the party if you had not invited him.
Unless = if not

In all of these sentences, we are talking about the past. We are imagining a different past. We can't go back in time and change the past, of course, so it is not real. 

Note that we say the opposite of what happened.
The Titanic hit an iceberg. We say "If the Titanic hadn't hit ..."
The Titanic sank. We say "it would not have sunk".
She didn't work hard. We say "If she had worked ..."
She failed. We say "she would have passed ..."

The main points to remember about the third conditional are:
1. It describes something that did not happen in the past. 
2. It's not real. It's imaginary or hypothetical.
3. We use the past perfect after if and would + have + verb 3 in the other half of the sentence.


Would you like more lessons, as well as tips for learning English, sent straight to your email inbox? Click the button and sign up:

Free Newsletters
pinnable infographic summarising the third conditional
1 Comment
Ilmu Komunikasi link
18/4/2023 04:49:27 am

what are the requirements needed?

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About the blog

    Follow the blog for mini lessons and tips on how to improve your English.

    ​You can find a complete index of all grammar topics here.

    ​You can also find a reading index here.

    Categories

    All
    About Me
    A Year In England
    Common Mistakes
    Confusing Words
    Culture
    Grammar
    Idioms
    Listening
    Modal Verbs
    Phrasal Verbs
    Pronunciation
    Quizzes
    Reading
    Speaking
    Special Days
    Spelling
    Tenses
    Tips
    Varieties Of English
    Vocabulary
    Writing

    Archives

    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Lessons
  • Shop
  • Contact