Third conditional

Form

If + past perfect + would have + past participle

Functions and examples

We use the third conditional to imagine a different past.

If I had done my homework, my teacher wouldn't have shouted at me.
-- In reality, I didn't do my homework, and my teacher shouted at me. So we are imagining a different past

She would have passed her exam if she had studied more.
-- In reality she didn't study enough, and so she didn't pass her exam. So we are imagining a different past

Important points

1. We can use other modal verbs in place of 'would'.

If they'd come earlier, they could have got a seat.
-- In reality, they didn't come early, and they didn't get a seat. In our different past, there was a possibility of a seat

2. Mixed conditional: if + past perfect + would + bare infinitive
Sometimes we want to say that the result of an action is now.

If it hadn't rained, I would have gone to the beach.
-- In reality, it rained in the past, and I didn't go to the beach in the past

If it hadn't rained, I would be at the beach / would be sitting on the beach.
-- In reality, it rained in the past, and I am not at the beach now. This is a mixed conditional

See also: 0 conditional / 1st conditional / 2nd conditional

Teaching Third conditional

•   After a reading or listening activity, I ask students to write down all the sentences starting with "if". I write one of the examples on the board:
  
  If it hadn't rained, he'd have gone to the beach.
  
  I elicit the form first and then ask concept questions:
  Did it rain? Ss: "Yes"
  Did he want to go to the beach? Ss: "Yes"
  Did he go to the beach? Ss: "No"
  Did he regret it? Ss: "Yes"
  
  Point out the relationship between REGRETTING and the FORM. (NB: eliciting is better than explaining)
  
  Good luck."
  Houcine
  
•   I give each student a a slip of paper with a funny excuse for not handing in homework (my dog ate it, I was abducted by aliens, my dad forgot to do it, it flew out of the bus window, etc). Students are supposed to write a short note for the teacher using the third conditional, explaining why they did not bring their homework (If my dog hadn't eaten it... ) Next, students are encouraged to write another note with their own stupid excuses for missing a class."
  Simone
  
•   I use inventions. I ask the students what technology they use at home. I then ask them what would life be without these inventions. For example:
  
  We wouldn't have been able to watch the situation in Iraq if the television had not been invented.
  
  or a mixed conditional...
  
  If the refrigerator had not been invented, we would not have been able to store ice cream at home."
  Maureen
  
•   I play the game "deal or no deal" (where they choose the boxes with money behind them) and at the end of the game imagine they are at home explaining what would have happened if they had chosen another box or continued to the end of the game, and ask what they would have won if they hadn't accepted or chosen the offer or another box, respectively.
  Rick
  

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