unreal conditionals

• Sts will have studied both the second and third

conditionals separately, but here they are
contrasted. Sts should be fairly confident with the
concept of both, although they will probably still
have problems using them orally with fluency,
especially the third conditional.
• Sts also widen their knowledge of the second and
third conditionals by seeing how other forms can
be used in either clause.
second or third conditional?

• The point to emphasize here is that the second

conditional refers to a hypothetical situation in
the present or future, which can sometimes be
changed and sometimes not, e.g. If she were taller,
she could Bet a job as a model (situation can't be
changed). If you studied more, you would pass the
exam (situation could be changed).

• The third conditional refers to hypothetical

situations in the past, which didn't happen, e.g.
If we had known you were in hospital, we would have
visited you (we didn't know, so we didn't visit you).

Mixed conditionals
• Sometimes the second and third conditionals are
mixed. We suggest that you draw Sts' attention
to this for passive recognition, but this is not
practised in the exercises.