Lesson 8 – Step 3 – The 3rd conditional

Goal

It’s time to learn about the third conditional, also known as the past conditional

It’s time to learn about the third conditional, also known as the past conditional You can watch the video or go straight to the written explanation. You decide! Once you’ve finished, you can move to step 4.

Language Discovery

Look at the words in blue in the text in step 1. What do they have in common?

1.  They start with if.
2.  They use had or hadn’t.
3. They have a verb in the past participle.

Look at the words in green in the text in step 1. What do they have in common?

1.  They use would or wouldn’t.
2. They use have.
3. They have a verb in the past participle.

General Notions

We use the 3rd conditional or past conditional for hypothetical or imaginary situations in the past. These are things that didn’t happen, and the consequences they could have had.

Structure and Examples

If I hadn’t missed my flight, I would have been at the wedding!

(But I missed the flight and didn’t go to the wedding) 

Tim’d have made a better decision if he’d known the truth about his friend.

(He didn’t know, so he made a really bad decision)

If they had been more responsible at work, their boss wouldn’t have fired them.

(But they were very irresponsible at work so now they are fired)

Dig a little deeper: first, second or third conditional?

Conclusion

Ready? Terrific! Let’s move on to step 3 to practise what you’ve learnt in this step.