The 3rd (Third) Conditional English Sentence Structure
Grammar is the way words are organized into sentences. It’s important to remember that not all English sentences follow grammar “rules.” However, there are sentence structures you can learn that make it easier for you to express your thoughts.
A conditional sentence is used in English to talk about a result that may happen IF a condition happens first.
The 3rd conditional sentence structure is also called the past unreal conditional or past hypothetical conditional. It is used to imagine a different past than the one that happened.
If I hadn’t eaten so much, I wouldn’t have gotten* so fat.
[*In American English, gotten is used at the past participle of got.]
The if clause is unreal. It did not happen. Did I eat a lot? Yes, I did. Am I fat? Yes, I am. However, what if the past was different? What if I hadn’t eaten so much? I am imagining the result if the past was different.
If I hadn’t eaten so much,
I’m imagining what would have happened if I hadn’t eaten so much. How would things be different if I hadn’t eaten so much?
…I wouldn’t have gotten* so fat.
Am I fat now? Yes. I would not be fat now if hadn’t eaten so much in the past. If I ate well in the past, I would not be fat now.
The 3rd conditional form:
If + past perfect, would have + past participle
Example sentences:
If I hadn’t gone to the party, I would have never met my husband.
We would have gone out last night if we hadn’t been so tired.
If his brother hadn’t reminded him, Dan would have forgotten his wife’s birthday.
If she had seen the ice on the road, she would have slowed down and she wouldn’t have gotten in an accident.
NOTES:
The past perfect tense = had + past participle
In spoken English, subject + would AND subject + had are usually contracted: I’d, you’d, she’d, he’d, we’d, they’d
Common uses of this sentence structure:
What would you have done if … ?
What would you have done if you hadn’t been accepted at any university?
What would you have done if we hadn’t been there to help?
What would you have done differently if you had known you would never speak to him again?
If I had known…
If I had known that you needed help, I would have come!
If we had known you were sick, we would have gone to visit you in the hospital.
We wouldn’t have driven all this way if we had known the museum was closed.
If I had known that you needed a ride to school, I would have driven you.
I really wanted to see that movie! If I had known you were going, I would have gone with you!
Expressing Regret
You can use this sentence structure to express regret about something in the past, and to wish the past had happened differently.
If we had known the movie was so awful, we wouldn’t have wasted our money on it.
If I had finished high school and gone to university, I would have gotten a better job.
Criticism
You can use this structure to criticize someone/something or point out mistakes:
If you hadn’t stayed out so late last night, you wouldn’t have slept in and been late for work!
It would have been quicker if we had taken a taxi to the park instead of walking.
Other modal verbs can be used in the result clause:
might have + past participle = maybe
If I had known you would be at the party, I might have gone.
If I had known about his police record, I might not have dated him.
If he had finished high school, he might have had a better life.
If she had been wearing her seatbelt, she might have survived the car accident.
could have + past participle = possibility or ability
I could have been a world-class swimmer if I had practiced more when I was younger.
If I had known you didn’t have a car, I could have driven you to the meeting.
If my parents hadn’t lent me money, I could never have afforded university.
If you had told me the TV was broken, I could have fixed it for you!
Now you know how to use the 3rd conditional sentence structure!
If you have trouble with conditional sentences, please read Conditional Sentences: An Introduction
Id like to ask a question about theseparticular sentences:
If the lake did form when the ice melted under its insulating blanket, I would never have had any contactwith the outside world.
If Robin´s timing are correct, rain would soon stop collecting in the rift, and the lake that formed would have been teeming with life.
What happened next, would have been cataclizmic.
these sentences are from a documentary I have seen recently. But I want to know about the tenses used in the sentences. Im confused by whether these are conditions, and if yes that which one, and whether they are like, transofrmed into the past? … :))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APaBqRp27zU&feature=player_embedded here is the link, If you wanted to check it by yourself, its quite interesting anyway 🙂
Hi, Gabriel!
Unfortunately I don’t have time right now to watch the entire documentary. It looks very interesting, though! Did you hear these sentences or did you copy them from the transcript?
Sometimes in English, sentences don’t always follow the normal rules. The 3rd conditional is used to talk about a different past than the one that happened. We know what happened in the past, but are imagining what would have happened if things had been different.
In the documentary, the filmmakers have no idea what happened in the past. They are imagining the past. There is no real or unreal past. They have no idea how the lake formed. So, the sentence structure doesn’t exactly follow the “rule,” but there isn’t another “rule” to follow when you have to guess what happened in the past.
Here’s what I think the sentences should be:
“If the lake did form when the ice melted under its insulating blanket, it would never have had any contact with the outside world.”
– I think they used “DID form” in the first part for emphasis. The filmmakers are trying to imagine what happened in the past. They’re just guessing. They want to emphasize that if this DID happen, then … “Did” sounds more powerful than “had.”
“If Robin’s timing is correct, rain would soon stop collecting in the rift, and the lake that formed would have been teeming with life.”
– Here the speaker switches between the present & the past. In the present, the filmmakers are trying to guess what happened in the past. In the present, Robin is guessing at the timing that happened in the past.
“What happened next would have been cataclysmic.”
– This is the result clause of the conditional sentence all by itself. The first if clause has been left out, but it is assumed by the listener:
“If all of our guess [in the present] are correct, what happened next [in the past] would have been cataclysmic.”
Does that help? If I think of anything else, I’ll leave another comment.
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Thank you very much 🙂 It helped me a lot. :)) It seems a bit confusing right now but I will listen to the documentary again and I will try to grasp how does this work 🙂 … One last question, If I replace did with had in the sentences, nothing will change, except the emphasis maybe, and meaning will be the same?
Yes! You’re correct. In this case, “If the lake did form, …” means the same thing as “If the lake had formed, …”
You have reached a very high level of English! That’s great that you were able to hear all those sentences. Keep up the good work!
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Hello,
Please could you clarify if the sentence below is correct?
“He would have passed the exam if he wouldn’t have been so lazy.”
There is an english test in my country and all my friends chose “if he hadn’t been so lazy” but it’s wrong and we don’t understand why. Thank you!
Hi, Francisco,
To me, your second sentence, “He would have passed the exam if he hadn’t been so lazy” is correct. It is the 3rd conditional sentence structure. It’s not wrong!
It’s odd that the first sentence has two ‘would’ in it, “He would have passed the exam if he wouldn’t have been so lazy.” That doesn’t sound right.
What test was this on?
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“If I enroll may name for the English course,what would have guarantee to get the job.”
Is this the right sentence???
Hi, Sunitii,
No, this sentence is not correct. This is not a 3rd conditional sentence. It is a 1st conditional sentence.
“If I enroll in the English course, is there a guarantee I will get the job?”
or
“If I enroll in the English course, I will get the job.”
Hi
please explain the formation of this conditional sentence and give some example like this.
“i may not have come into films had my parents not divorced”
Hi, Dev!
Great question! This is a great example of inversion used in a conditional sentence. Good for you that you figured out this is a 3rd conditional sentence!
In English, inversion is used to sound more formal.
First, let’s look at your sentence in the traditional 3rd conditional structure:
“If my parents hadn’t gotten a divorce, I would not have come into film.”
OR
“I would not have come into film, if my parents hadn’t gotten a divorce.”
The speaker/writer of the sentence is unsure if he would have come into film. He used may instead of would because he is not sure (he could have also used might).
“I may not have come into films” = It’s possible I would not have come into film.
Let’s look now at the if-clause where the speaker/writer used inversion:
In the usual if-clause, the order is if+subject+verb [past perfect]. When inversion is used in a conditional sentence, if is left out. Then, the position of the subject & the verb have [the first part of the past perfect] are switched. “If my parents hadn’t” becomes “had my parents not.”
Example sentences:
“Had I not quit smoking, I would have died.”
“Had he spoke French, he would have been able to speak to the tourists.”
It’s good to understand this type of sentence structure, but I wouldn’t worry too much about using it in everyday conversation. It’s a very formal way of speaking.
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Hi Melanie, I have been struggling with the 2nd and 3rd conditionals… I seem to have the grasp of the others. Below I have made up 2nd and 3rd conditionals to try and test myself. I have made up my own questions and then completed the answers in the correct conditional…Do you think these are correct now (why is it so hard)
Your help would be appreciated thank you.
Q: If you lived in a remote village, how would you travel to work?
A: If I were living on an island, I could sail to work in my boat.
(Second conditional – If+past simple, could/would/might +base form)
Q:What if Tom had forgotten his passport, what would he have done?
A: If Tom had forgotten his passport, he would have missed the plane
(Third conditional If+past perfect, would/could/might + have + past participle)
If I were a horse, I would run faster (2nd)
If I had had money, I would have a bigger car (3rd)
If I had a fast car, I could enter the race (2nd)
If I had crashed the car, she would have been angry (3rd)
If you were a boat, what colour would you be?
If I were a boat, I would be blue. (Second conditional)
If you had lost your map, what could you have done?
If we had lost our map, we could have asked someone for directions (3rd)
(2nd conditionals)
If I were a plane – I could fly to Japan
If I were a canoe – I might paddle along the river
If I were a horse – I would gallop across the fields.
(3rd Conditionals)
If I had bought a boat – I could have sailed around the world
If you had remembered to fill up the car – we might have seen the film
If we had skidded off the road – we would have crashed the car
Hi, Teresa!
You seem like a very dedicated & determined English student!
Q: If you LIVED in a remote village, how WOULD you travel to work?
– Try to keep your answer in the same form as the question. It’s easier that way.
A: If I LIVED on an island, I would sail to work in my boat.
Q: What would Tom had done if he had forgotten his passport?
A: If Tom had forgotten his passport, he would have missed the plane GOOD!
If I were a horse, I COULD run faster (2nd) [than I can run now?]
= I would have the ability to do something
If I had had money, I would have BOUGHT a bigger car (3rd)
If I had a fast car, I could enter the race (2nd) GOOD!
If I had crashed the car, she would have been angry (3rd) GOOD!
If you were a boat, what colour would you be?
If I were a boat, I would be blue. (Second conditional) GOOD!
If you had lost your map, what could you have done?
If we had lost our map, we could have asked someone for directions (3rd) GOOD!
(2nd conditionals)
If I were a plane, I could fly to Japan GOOD!
If I were a canoe, I might paddle along the river GOOD!
If I were a horse, I would gallop across the fields. GOOD!
(3rd Conditionals)
If I had bought a boat, I could have sailed around the world GOOD!
If you had remembered to fill up the car, we might have seen the film GOOD!
If we had skidded off the road, we would have crashed the car GOOD!
Great work Teresa!
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Hi Melanie! That’s a great piece of information I must say! I was reading this in a 10th grade English book. If he —— (be) younger, he would travel more, and the blank was to be filled with ‘were’. Now I wanted to ask, was can also be used in this condition. Why can we not prefer was or what is the most appropriate justification of using were in this case.
Hi, Aimen,
Here’s what I think you’re asking:
I read this in a 10th grade English book:
“If he ____ (be) younger, he would travel more.”
The blank was to be filled with ‘were’. Now I wanted to ask, can ‘was’ also be used in this conditional? Why can’t we use ‘was’? What is the most appropriate justification of using ‘were’ in this case?
~
This is actually a 2nd conditional sentence structure. The person is imagining a different present situation. In this sentence structure you can use both ‘were’ & ‘was.’ To the ears of native speakers, ‘were’ sounds best. This is the subjunctive verb form. You don’t need to learn the subjunctive. It’s rarely used in English. It’s something that’s leftover from old English. All you need to know is that you can use ‘were’ in the 2nd conditional sentence structure.
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Hi Melanie,
Could You Please help Me Out With This? is this Right?
If You Had Called Me I Would Have Mat You??
Hi, Vipin!
Remember, you do not capitalize every word in a sentence in English:
“Could you please help me out with this? Is this right:
If you had called, I would have met you.”
Your sentence is correct!
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Hello, can you tell me, if I’m using the third conditional correctly in these sentences?
‘If he had gotten up earlier, he wouldn’t have been late for work’.
‘If he hadn’t stopped for coffee, he wouldn’t have picked her up’.
‘If it had been wrapped, it could have been ready’.
Yes, your sentences are correct! : )
Hi,
Can u tell me the below sentence is correct or not..?
“You might have said the exact same thing when England won the World Cup”
One of my friend was teasing an England player (James) who caused to lose the game from England and he (my friend) posted a comment on FB “well done James for ur wonderful innings” But they have early won the world cup because of this player’s talent. That was the context and I replied him as above.
Was that correct or should I have used “you might have said the exact same thing when England had won the world cup”
Hi, Sam!
I think your sentence is better like this:
“You would have said the exact same thing if England won the World Cup!”
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Hi Melanie,
Thank you very much for your reply… =)