The Third Conditional

The Third Conditional

1. 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:

2. Uses

   • To speak of events in the past, which had otherwise occurred, would have had other consequences. This is a hypothetical situation in the past. We are imagining what could have happened. If I had had enough money, I would have bought you a house

3. Estructure

   • Affirmative: If + Past Perfect + Subject + Would Have + Verb Participle
     • Negative: If + Past Perfect + Subject + Wouldn't Have + Verb Participle
       • Question: If + Past Perfect + Would +Subject + Have + Verb Participle + ?

4. Examples

   • -What would you have done if you had been in my shoes? /¿Qué hubieras hecho si te hubiera ocurrido a ti? -Yesterday she played the lottery and she did not win. If she had won the lottery, she would have booked holidays in the Caribbean. /Ayer ella jugó a la lotería y no ganó. Si ella hubiera ganado la lotería, hubiera reservado unas vacaciones en el Caribe. -If I had studied medicine he would have been a very good doctor./Si él hubiera estudiado medicina, hubiera sido un gran doctor.

5. The third conditional in English helps us to express conditions and their consequences in a hypothetical future and if the past had been otherwise.