Third Conditional

The Third Conditional


We make the third conditional by using the past perfect after 'if' and then 'would have' and the past participle in the second part of the sentence:

  • if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle

It talks about the past. It's used to describe a situation that didn't happen, and to imagine the result of this situation.

  • If she had studied, she would have passed the exam (but, really we know she didn't study and so she didn't pass)

  • If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick (but I did eat a lot, and so I did feel sick).

  • If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plane

  • She wouldn't have been tired if she had gone to bed earlier

  • She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university

  • He would have been on time for the interview if he had left the house at nine

Source Material: http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/


Third Conditional: Choose one of the situations presented and then describe how the world would have changed if those events had happened. Write at least an essay of 120 words and rememeber to write an introduction, body and conclusion.

- What would have happened if the Nazis had won World War 2?

- What would have happened if electricity hadn't beend discovered?

- What would have happened if South American countries hadn't achieve independence?

- What would have happened if Cuban missile crisis had started a nuclear war?

- What would have happened if Pangea had still existed?