Third conditional (unreal past conditional)

if + past perfect …….. Would have + past participle

✓ We use the past conditional to talk about unreal situations in the past, to imagine how the past could have
been different.
✓ we often use it to talk about how events or situations in the past were different from what actually happened.
✓ We form the past conditional with if + past perfect + would have + past participle.
o We use contractions would/’d and have/’ve in both informal writing and speaking
❖ If he had seen the car coming, he would have moved out of the way.
(But he didn’t see the car, so he didn’t move and there was an accident.)

❖ Would you have left so early if you had known their flight was delayed?
(You didn’t know about the delay, so you left too early.)

❖ If I’d been born in the 1800s, I wouldn’t have learned to read and write.
(But I wasn’t born in the 1800s, so I learned to read and write.)

✓ The if-clause can go before or after the result clause. When the if-clause goes first it is followed by a comma.
o If I’d known we were going swimming, I’d have brought my costume.
o I’d have brought my costume if I’d known we were going swimming.

✓ We can also use the modal verbs might and could instead of would, to make the result less certain .
If the bus had hit the lorry, you might/could have been seriously injured.

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