Language of the Day: Third Conditional
Today we’ll look at the third conditional which is a type of sentence structure that is used to talk about unreal situations in the past!
Conditionals describe the result of a certain condition. For example, “If you study hard, you will pass you exam.” The if clause tells you the condition (If you study hard) and the main clause tells you the result (you will pass your exams).
The order of the clauses does not change the meaning. You could also say, “You will pass your exams if you study hard.”
Before we look at the third conditional in more detail, let’s review the first and second conditions:
The first conditional is used to talk about future situations we believe are real or possible.
The structure is If + [present simple], … will + [infinitive].
For example, “If it rains, I will stay home.”
The second conditional is used to imagine present or future situations that are impossible or unlikely in reality.
The structure is If + [past simple], … would + [infinitive].
For example, “If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.”
The third conditional is a bit more complex. It’s used to talk about unreal situations in the past.
The structure is If + [past perfect], … would have + [past participle].
For example, “If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam.”
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. The third conditional talks about the past, and it's used to describe a situation that didn't happen, and to imagine the result of this situation.
For example, many of us make a variety of different plans for the weekend including going out and having fun and also doing household chores and relaxing at home. Let’s say you stayed home all day on Saturday doing laundry and watching movies, and made plans to go hiking and out for lunch on Sunday. But when you wake up on Sunday morning it’s pouring rain outside and you can’t go hiking!
You forgot to check the weather forecast and didn’t realize that it was expected to be sunny on Saturday and it was going to rain on Sunday. In this case, so you might say, “If had known it was going to rain on Sunday, I would’ve gone hiking on Saturday.”
Let’s look at some more examples of sentences using the third conditional!
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).
If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plane.
She wouldn't have been tired if she had gone to bed earlier.
She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university.
He would have been on time for the interview if he had left the house at nine.
