Third Conditional: no possibility
The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With
the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition
in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for
this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no
possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(
Condition Result
Past Perfect WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If I had won the lottery I would have bought a car.
Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did
not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular
condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past
perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use
WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result.
The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition
and result are impossible now.
Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead
of would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket,
you might have won.
Look at some more examples in the tables below:
IF Condition Result
Past Perfect WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If I had seen Mary I would have told her.
If Tara had been free yesterday I would have invited her.
If they had not passed their exam their teacher would have been sad.
If It had rained yesterday would you have stayed at home?
If It had rained yesterday what would you have done?
Third Conditional: no possibility
Result IF Condition
WOULD HAVE + Past Participle Past Perfect
I would have told Mary if I had seen her.
I would have invited Tara if she had been free yesterday.
Their teacher would have been if they had not passed their exam.
sad
Would you have stayed at home if It had rained yesterday?
What would you have done if It had rained yesterday?
Third Conditional Form
Make the third conditional
1) If you __________________ (not/be) late, we ___________________
(not/miss) the bus.
2) If she ______________________ (study) she ___________________ (pass)
the exam.
3) If we ________________________ (arrive) earlier, we__________________
(see) John.
4) If they ___________________ (go) to bed early, they ______________
(not/wake) up late.
5) If he __________________ (become) a musician, he __________________
(record) a CD.
6) If she _________________ (go) to art school, she ___________________
(become) a painter.
Third Conditional: no possibility
7) If I ________ (be) born in a different country, I _________ (learn) to speak a
different language.
8) If she _________________ (go) to university, she __________________ (study)
French.
9) If we ___________________ (not/go) to the party, we _______________
(not/meet) them.
10) If he _________________ (not/take) the job, he ________________ (go)
travelling.
11) He _________________ (be) happier if he _______________ (stay) at home.
12) She __________________ (pass) the exam if she ______________________
(study) harder.
13) We _______________ (not/get) married if we _____________ (not/go) to the
same university.
14) They _____________ (be) late if they _________________ (not/take) a taxi.
15) She _______________ (not/meet) him if she ________________ (not/come)
to London.
16) He _________________ (take) a taxi if he ___________________ (have)
enough money.
17) I ________________ (call) you if I ______________ (not/forget) my phone.
18) We ______________ (come) if we _____________________ (be) invited.
19) She _________________ (not/do) it if she _________________ (know) you
were ill.
Third Conditional: no possibility
20) He _______________ (be) on time if he _____________________ (leave)
earlier.
