Verb Forms in Unreal Conditional Sentences (past and mixed)

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer  from English with Jennifer.  

Can you tell the difference between what's real  and what isn't? Let's see. Real or not real?

Not real. Unicorns are imaginary creatures.

Real or not real?

Real. There are things in nature that are  incredible. They can be incredibly beautiful,  

and they're definitely real. Real or not real?

Not real. First of all, dragons  are mythical creatures. Second,  

putting on a costume is a choice to pretend.  People pretend to be something they're not.  

If dragons really existed, they would  be bigger and more beautiful than that.  

If those people had better  costumes, they could gather a crowd.

Here I'm imagining a situation to be different --  a present situation. These present situations are  

unreal. Consider these next two sentences.  Which one is real and which one is unreal?  

If you missed my other lesson on unreal  conditionals, you can watch it later. If I hadn't  

made so many of my children's costumes, Halloween  wouldn't have been as fun for us. Sentence A is  

about the past and it's real. If this past  condition is true about you, then there's a  

result, a choice that exists in the present or  future: you can watch my other lesson later.

Sentence B is also about the past but  an unreal past. It's counterfactual.  

The truth? I made many of my children's costumes,  but imagine if I hadn't made all those costumes.  

In this lesson, we'll review unreal  conditionals about the past. I know  

the verb forms can be a little tricky,  so we'll practice together. Okay?  

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Remember that "if" conditionals have two clauses.  The "if" clause names the condition. The main  

clause is the result. If" clause + result. When  we talk about unreal situations in the past,  

what verb form follows "if"? Remember my  example? If I hadn't made all those costumes,  

Halloween wouldn't have been as fun for us.

We shift from the simple past to the past perfect.  

That's how we shift from real  to unreal or counterfactual.  

If I hadn't become an English teacher, I wouldn't  have met so many people from around the world.

If I'd never moved to Boston, I might not  have discovered how beautiful New England is.

I would have been unhappy if I had  stayed in one city all my life.

Notice how the "if" clause  can come first or second.  

Some people like to use the name "the third  conditional." I think it's more helpful to  

focus on the meaning and purpose of this  structure. We're forming unreal conditionals  

about the past. These are unreal situations. Both  the condition and the result are counterfactual.

Now, you won't always hear American English  speakers shift back to the past perfect,  

especially in informal speech. If I knew  your plans, I would have warned you.

We can debate whether this use of this  simple past is acceptable or not. I  

generally recommend standard grammar, so  I suggest shifting to the past perfect  

for these unreal past situations. However,  you have to be ready to hear variations.  

Still, if I, uh, new then what I know  now, I do a lot of things differently.

For these unreal conditions about the past, we  can also shift the past progressive to the past  

perfect progressive. If I had been thinking more  clearly, I would have guessed the correct answer.

Okay. So we agree in the "if" clause of an unreal  condition about the past we shift to the past  

perfect and sometimes the past perfect progressive  if we're talking about an action in progress.  

So, what verb forms do we use  in the main clause, the result?  

Look at my examples. I would have been unhappy  if I had stayed in one city all my life.

If I had never moved to Boston, I might not  have discovered how beautiful New England is.

If I had saved more money, I could  have taken a longer vacation.

Most often, we use "would have" + the  past participle in the result clause,  

but we can also use "could have" or  "might have" + the past participle.  

Use "would" for the most probable result.  Use "might" for a weaker possibility.  

"Could" helps us express an ability  or the possibility of doing something,  

and again we're focusing on  past situations that are unreal.  

I want you to note how the helping verb  "have" sounds in fast speech. It sounds  

like the preposition "of." Would  have, would've. I would have been.  

Might have, might've. I might have been.  Could have, could've. I could have been.

I still wonder what my life would  have been like if I had stayed.

Let's practice. Fix the mistakes.  Each statement is about the past.

Answers. One. If Maggie  hadn't been working so hard,  

she would have spent more time  with her father last year.

Two. If Mr. Carlson had retired earlier, he  could have visited his grandchildren more often.

Three. If Maggie had known that  her father was lonely last winter,  

she might have flown back to visit him.

Next task. Create a counterfactual  statement with "if."

Answers. One. If Joe had had more  experience, he wouldn't have felt so nervous.

Two. If the sun hadn't been so bright,  they wouldn't have put on sunglasses.

Three. If they hadn't dressed appropriately,  they would have suffered from the cold wind.

Now we get a little tricky. Mixed  conditionals use two different time frames.  

We can talk about an unreal past having  an imaginary result in the present,  

or we can talk about an imaginary present  condition connected to an unreal past.  

If I had never become an online teacher, I  wouldn't be making this lesson right now.

If I were more ambitious and less busy, I  would have started learning Spanish by now.

If I had had a son and,  uh, he turned out like you,

I would be very proud of him.  

Let's put what you've learned into practice.  Create unreal conditionals with "if."

If I were a millionaire, I would have bought  my parents a new house a long time ago.

Two. If I had paid more attention in math class,  

I could help my nephew with  his math homework more often.

Three. If I were living or if I lived on a beach,  

I might find it easier to relax or  I would find it easier to relax.

How did you do on the tasks? Do you feel  more confident about unreal conditionals?  

I hope so. If you need more practice, check out  my recommendations in the video description.  

That's all for now. Please like and share  the video if you found the lesson useful.  

As always, thanks for watching and happy  studies! I'd like to say a special thank  

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