Past Unreal Conditionals

1. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the studying being in progress.
If the students ________________ (study), they ________________ (be) at the café.

2. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the taking off being in progress.
If the plane ________________ (take) off, the technical problem ________________
(be) very dangerous.

3. Unreal situation in the past. Use ‘might’ in the main clause to make it less certain.
If she ________________ (not always left) work early, she ________________ (be)
promoted more quickly.

4. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.

If the computer ________________ (break), ________________ (you / call) Frank?

5. Unreal situation in the past. Use ‘could’ in the main clause to show past ability.
If he ________________ (study) the language, he ________________ (speak) to the
taxi driver.

6. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of progress for both working and
writing.
If Jenny ________________ (work) at 6pm, she ________________ (write) emails.

7. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the rain being in progress and use
‘might ‘in the main clause to make it less certain.
If it ________________ (rain), we ________________ (go) to the park.

1 Past Unreal Conditionals

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 8. Unreal situation in the past.
If we ________________ (have) a picnic last weekend, we ________________ (get)
wet in the rain.

9. Unreal situation in the past.

If I ________________ (be) fitter, I ________________ (finish) the race.

10. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.
If you ________________ (not pass) the exam, what ________________ (you / do)?

11. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the studying being in progress.
If Julie ________________ (go) to France, she ________________ (study) French at
11am yesterday.

12. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.
If the boss ________________ (say) your work was terrible, ________________ (you
/ be) angry?

13. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of being in progress for both lying
and eating.
If I ________________ (lie) on a beach when you called, I ________________ (eat)
an ice cream.

14. Unreal situation in the past. Use ‘could’ in the main clause to show past ability.
If she ________________ (be) with us, she ________________ (talk) to the waiter in
Spanish.

15. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.
If the children ________________ (go) to bed early, ________________ (you / have)
a bath?

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 16. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of being in progress for both walking
and carrying.
If the children ________________ (walk) to school at that time, they
________________ (carry) their new school bags.

17. Unreal situation in the past Use ‘could’ in the main clause.
If he ________________ (have) enough money, he ________________ (come) to the
restaurant.

18. Unreal situation in the past.

If I ________________ (go) home early, I ________________ (not be) tired this
morning.

19. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.
If James ________________ (quit) his job, what ________________ (he / do) next?

20. Unreal situation in the past.

If Chris ________________ (want) to come, we ________________ (meet) near his
house.

21. Unreal situation in the past. Make the sentence very formal by dropping ‘if’ and using
inversion.
________________ (he / go) home at 6pm, he ________________ (have) dinner with
his family.

22. Unreal situation in the past. Make the sentence very formal by dropping ‘if’ and using
inversion.
________________ (the plane / arrive) early, I ________________ (have) time for
coffee.

23. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the correcting being in progress.
If the teacher ________________ (correct) the homework, she ________________
(need) the book.

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 24. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of ‘working’ being in progress.
If he ________________ (work), he ________________ (fix) the problem.

25. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of exercising being in progress.
If Amanda ________________ (go) to the gym, she ________________ (exercise) at
8pm.

26. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.
If she ________________ (be) late, ________________ (you / wait) for her?

27. Unreal situation in the past. Use ‘might’ in the main clause.
If they ________________ (do) their homework, they ________________ (pass) the
test.

28. Unreal situation in the past. Make the sentence very formal by dropping ‘if’ and using
inversion. Also use ‘could’ in the main clause.
________________ (she / pass) the test, she ________________ (become) a doctor.

29. Unreal situation in the past. Use a question in the main clause.
If I ________________ (miss) the party, ________________ (you / be) annoyed with
me?

30. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of studying being in progress.
If she ________________ (not / study), she ________________ (go) to the party.

31. Unreal situation in the past.

If she ________________ (tell) Luke yesterday, he ________________ (not be)
annoyed.

32. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of playing being in progress.
If the children ________________ (play) outside, they ________________ (see) the
cat.

4 Past Unreal Conditionals

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 33. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the working being in progress.
If the waitress ________________ (be) late, she ________________ (not work) when
we arrived.

34. Unreal situation in the past. Make the sentence very formal by dropping ‘if’ and using
inversion.
________________ (we / go) to the park, we ________________ (see) the roses.

35. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the sitting being in progress.
If we ________________ (not sit) in the garden, we ________________ (hear) the
doorbell.

36. Unreal situation in the past.

If they ________________ (not go) for lunch early, they ________________ (have)
to wait in a huge queue.

37. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the dancing being in progress.
If I ________________ (go) to the party, I ________________ (dance) at midnight.

38. Unreal situation in the past. Emphasise the idea of the waiting being in progress.
If we ________________ (miss) the plane, we ________________ (wait) at the
airport for ages.

39. Unreal situation in the past.

If she ________________ (not take) the train, she ________________ (miss) the
meeting.

40. Unreal situation in the past. Use ‘might’ in the main clause.
If she ________________ (not be) at the party, I ________________ (call) her.

5 Past Unreal Conditionals

Seonaid’s English Masterclass
Answers: Past Unreal Conditionals
1. If the students hadn’t been studying, they would have been at the café.
2. If the plane had been taking off, the technical problem would have been very
dangerous.
3. If she hadn’t always left work early, she might have been promoted more quickly.
4. If the computer had broken, would you have called Frank?
5. If he had studied the language, he could have spoken to the taxi driver.
6. If Jenny had been working at 6pm, she would have been writing emails.
7. If it hadn’t been raining, we might have gone to the park.
8. If we had had a picnic last weekend, we would have got wet in the rain.
9. If I had been fitter, I would have finished the race.
10. If you hadn’t passed the exam, what would you have done?
11. If Julie had gone to France, she would have been studying French at 11am yesterday.
12. If the boss had said your work was terrible, would you have been angry?
13. If I had been lying on a beach when you called, I would have been eating an ice
cream.
14. If she had been with us, she could have talked to the waiter in Spanish.
15. If the children had gone to bed early, would you have had a bath?
16. If the children had been walking to school at that time, they would have been carrying
their new school bags.
17. If he had had enough money, he could have come to the restaurant.
18. If I had gone home early, I wouldn’t have been tired this morning.
19. If James had quit his job, what would he have done next?
20. If Chris had wanted to come, we would have met near his house.
21. Had he gone home at 6pm, he would have had dinner with his family.
22. Had the plane arrived early, I would have had time for coffee.
23. If the teacher had been correcting the homework, she would have needed the book.
24. If he had been working, he would have fixed the problem.
25. If Amanda had gone to the gym, she would have been exercising at 8pm.
26. If she’d been late, would you have waited for her?
27. If they had done their homework, they might have passed the test.
28. Had she passed the test, she could have become a doctor.
29. If I’d missed the party, would you have been annoyed with me?
30. If she hadn’t been studying, she would have gone to the party.
31. If she had told Luke yesterday, he wouldn’t have been annoyed.
32. If the children had been playing outside, they would have seen the cat.
33. If the waitress had been late, she wouldn’t have been working when we arrived.
34. Had we gone to the park, we would have seen the roses.
35. If we hadn’t been sitting in the garden, we would have heard the doorbell.
36. If they hadn’t gone for lunch early, they would have had to wait in a huge queue.
37. If I’d gone to the party, I would have been dancing at midnight.
38. If we had missed the plane, we would have been waiting at the airport for ages.
39. If she hadn’t taken the train, she would have missed the meeting.
40. If she hadn’t been at the party, I might have called her.

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