The Third Conditional

The First Conditional talks about things which can really happen now or in the future. The Second Conditional talks about things which might happen — maybe they will or maybe they won’t, but we talk about them hypothetically. But what about things which didn’t happen in the past, but we can imagine them? In other words, what about things which might have happened?

If I had eaten all seven pizzas, it would have been too much.

We saw that in the Second Conditional we make things sound hypothetical by using if and moving them to the past. In the Third Conditional, we make things sound hypothetical by making a past form more of a past form.

For example, instead of saying “I ate all seven pizzas”, we say “If I had eaten all seven pizzas”. The Past Simple (ate) becomes the Past Perfect (had eaten).

I didn’t go to the Moon last vacation, but if I had gone to the Moon, I would have taken some photos.

We can also reverse them.

I would have taken some photos if I’d gone to the Moon.

We can also make questions and negatives. The negative can be on either part, of course.

If we’d both gone to the Moon, would you have looked for moon rocks with me?

No, if you’d taken me to the Moon, I would have been too busy jumping around to look for moon rocks.

If you hadn’t looked for moon rocks, we wouldn’t have brought back moon rocks to sell on eBay, but I would have enjoyed jumping around with you.

How much could we have sold them for if we’d done that instead?

As with the Second Conditional, we can imagine anything, real or strange. It’s only hypothetical.

Quiz: Correct or Incorrect?

Which of these examples are correct Third Conditionals? Pick only the correct ones.

Set 1

• ✓ If I’d seen your robot, I would have said hello to him.
• ✗ I would came to your dog’s birthday party if he had invited me. (“would came” should be “would have come”.)
• ✗ Would you have ridden that donkey if you had the chance? (The if clause should be Past Perfect: “if you had had the chance”. “If you had the chance” is Second Conditional.)
• ✓ I would’ve ridden every donkey in town if someone had offered me the chance.

Set 2

• ✗ If I were you, I would have some more coffee. (This is Second Conditional — the if clause uses Simple Past “were”, not Past Perfect. The result also uses “would”, not “would have”.)
• ✗ Larry had drunk ten cups of coffee and felt like he would never fall asleep. (Not a conditional — no if clause.)
• ✓ If you hadn’t drunk any coffee last night, you’d have gotten more sleep last night.
• ✓ Yes, but I wouldn’t have finished my English homework if I hadn’t drunk any coffee.

Set 3

• ✗ If I were Larry, I’d drink less coffee. (Second Conditional — this is hypothetical present, not hypothetical past.)
• ✓ If Larry had listened to me, he wouldn’t have fallen asleep at work.
• ✓ If Larry hadn’t fallen asleep at work, he would have noticed that the building was on fire.
• ✓ His hair wouldn’t have burned if he’d woken up sooner.

Set 4

• ✗ What would you have done if you haven’t met me? (The if clause needs Past Perfect: “if you hadn’t met me”.)
• ✓ I probably would have married someone else, if I had met someone like you.
• ✗ Would you have married my sister if you met her? (Should be: “if you had met her”.)
• ✓ I might have if I hadn’t heard her singing.

If the Third Conditional is new to you, it may seem complicated, but in time you may start to “feel” the hypothetical past.

Regret

We can use the Third Conditional to talk about regret. Regret is when we think about something which we wish hadn’t happened.

We can say:

• I regret doing that. (A simple verb. Larry regrets drinking ten cups of coffee.)
• I have regret. (An uncountable noun for the feeling of regret. Larry felt regret as he lay awake in bed.)
• I have regrets. (A countable noun for regret about a specific thing. Larry has many regrets in life, and one of them is that day when he drank ten cups of coffee.)

Do you have any regrets? I do…

Lucy has many regrets in life. Let’s use them to practice the Third Conditional. You won’t regret it.

Story Exercise: Lucy’s Regrets

Complete the conversation using the Third Conditional.

“Hey, Lucy! How’s life.”

“Oh, lately I’m full of regret. I wish that I’d never bought such a large house.”

(your life be different) / (you buy it)
“How ________________ if ______________?”

(I buy a smaller house) / (it not cost so much) / (I have enough money left to buy a cleaning robot)
“If ________________, _________ and _______________.”

(you do) / (you have a cleaning robot)
“What ____________, _______________?”

(I buy a cleaning robot) / (I not spend last weekend cleaning up after my pet monkeys)
“If ___________________ / _______________________.”

Maybe if Lucy had trained her monkeys to clean the house, it would have worked out better.