Third conditional: structure, uses and examples

Third Conditional

What is it?

is the one we use to talk about the past. But not of something that happened, but of something that could have happened, its consequences in a hypothetical future and if that past event had been otherwise.

Structure:

If + Subject + Verb + subject + Would + Verb

We use the Third Conditional to refer to something in the past that is impossible to change

Example:

If I knew, I would have worn something more elegant.

when we use the third conditional, it is to express regret or to complain about something that both condition it and the result is now impossible.

Example

If I had not gone that weekend to Italy, I would have never met my boyfriend.

Errors:

A very common mistake when using the third conditional is to confuse the first part of the sentence ('if'), with the second part ('would'). We can NEVER place 'would' after 'if'.