Third Conditional

When do we use the third conditional?

The third conditional is used to express the past consequence of an unrealistic action
or situation in the past.

For example,

 If he had studied harder, he would have passed the exam.

The first action (studying hard) did not happen. But in the case that it happened, the
consequence was passing the exam. The third conditional is very similar to the second
conditional. But while the second conditional refers to something unrealistic now or
in the future, the third conditional refers to something unrealistic in the past.

We often use the third conditional to express regrets – describing things we are sorry
happened or didn’t happen. For example,

 If my alarm had gone off, I wouldn’t have been late to work.

 If there hadn’t been so much traffic we wouldn’t have missed our flight.

How do we create the third conditional?

To make a sentence in the third conditional, we use,

If + past perfect, would/wouldn’t have + past participle.

 If you had told me about the meeting, I would have come.

 If you had told me about the meeting, I wouldn’t have missed it.
  
As with all conditionals, you can also invert this structure:

Would have + past participle if + past perfect.

 I’d have come to the meeting if you’d told me about it.

 I wouldn’t have missed the meeting if you’d told me about it.

The word would is often contracted to ‘d  by native speakers. It’s also acceptable to
use this in informal writing. And in speech it’s common to contract have  to ‘ve  in the
third conditional. For example,
 I’d’ve come to the meeting if you’d told me.
However, we can’t write this, even in an informal context. It’s useful to be aware of it
though, so you can identify it when native speakers say it.

As an alternative to would,  we can complete the second part of a third conditional

sentence with could. For example,

 If I’d stayed at university, I could have got a master’s degree.

 

Here are some other examples of the third conditional:

 He’d have got the job if he hadn’t been so nervous in the interview.
 What would you have done if you’d been me?
 If it hadn’t been snowing heavily, we’d have carried on skiing.
 The company would have survived if there hadn’t been a recession.
 Would you have accepted the offer if we’d reduced the price?

This is the way we imagine how things could have been different in the past. If
something had been different, something else would have happened. Notice that both
the condition and the result are impossible now.

If I had known, I would have worn something nicer.

In this case, Amy didn’t know about the party, so she didn’t wear special clothes.

https://youtu.be/YgYqh5vX8oo

https://youtu.be/ve4Tk78j6Nc

https://youtu.be/kGv_mGUCFJE

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 THIRD CONDITIONAL WORKSHEET

NAME_________________________ 11________ DATE______________________

WRITE EACH OF THE TWO SENTENCES BELOW AS ONE SENTENCE. USE THE THIRD
CONDITIONAL WITH “HAD/HADN´T” + “WOULD/WOULDN´T”-

Example: Sam didn´t get up early. He was late for work.

If Sam had gotten up early, he wouldn´t have been late for work.
John had his car. He took the bus.
John wouldn´t have taken the bus if he had had his car.

1- The TV was broken. They were bored.

_________________________________________
2- Kevin got lost. He cried. ____________________________________________________
3- We didn´t clean our room. It was messy.
_______________________________________
4- That was a funny joke. I laughed.
_____________________________________________
5- The firemen arrived. They put out the fire.
_____________________________________
6- Javier practiced a lot. He won the contest.
______________________________________
7- Susan met him yesterday. She knew his name.
__________________________________
8- Jake didn´t study. He failed the test. __________________________________________
9- I rode the bicycle. I fell off.
__________________________________________________
10- She saw my aunt. She told her the news.
______________________________________
11- Mary called you. She had your number. ______________________________________
12- George lied. His mother was angry.
__________________________________________
13- We won the lottery. We went skiing.
_________________________________________
14- Susan took the map. She got lost.
____________________________________________
15- The river froze. Samuel went skating. ________________________________________