Third Conditional in English + Example Sentences [How and Why to Use It]

If you think back on your English language learning over the years,

I'm certain that you've heard teachers say the third conditional is used to talk

about impossible or unreal situations in the past.

What does that even mean? I'm sure that you've asked that question and wondered:

What's the point of talking about unreal situations in the

past or impossible situations in the past?

Things that didn't even happen.

I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English.

This is exactly where you want to be every week to get the confidence you want

for your life and work in English. And this week,

I want to uncover exactly why we use the third

conditional in English, because honestly it's really quite useful.

And I want to make it easier for you to use it accurately in your English

conversations. By the time you finished watching today's video,

you'll be a hundred percent clear on why and how you should be

using the third conditional in English.

Now, before we get into all the details of today's lesson,

I want to answer two important questions right away. Number one,

why do we really use the third conditional and two,

how can you use it accurately? As I mentioned,

right at the beginning,

most English grammar books and teachers will start by telling you that the

English third conditional is used to talk about unreal,

impossible situations in the past,

but here are two other ways to look at that.

We use the third conditional to express regret about things that we've

done or choices we've made in the past. In other words,

things that we wish we could change, but of course we can't.

For example,

that hairstyle that you had when you were 14 or the fact that you ate too much

over the holidays.

A second reason to use the third conditional is to criticize someone

else's choices or actions made in the past.

I'm sure all of us have had arguments with loved ones over decisions they made

in the past, or even taking the wrong term while driving. And as a result,

making you late for an appointment or even catching a plane,

we're going to explore those two uses for the third,

conditional in much more depth. And I'm going to give you practical examples,

but before I do, let's talk about how.

How to use the third conditional accurately. Again,

I'm sure you've heard a teacher or a grammar book point out that with the third

conditional you use,

if plus the past perfect plus would or wouldn't have and the

past participle, that's a lot of jargon. So let's make it a bit simpler.

Think about those verb charts that you've learned. Eat ate, eaten,

drink, drank drunk,

go went gone.

The verbs in that third column are called past participles and we

need those verbs in both parts of a third conditional sentence,

both in the past perfect and following would or wouldn't have.

Thankfully with regular verbs in English it's not so challenging.

We know that the third form of the verb ends with ed. For example,

work worked, worked. Walk walked, walked.

As we, go through the lesson today.

You'll see me use this structure again and again,

although sometimes I will reverse the order,

but I want you to pay close attention to that structure. In fact,

I recommend that you repeat the example sentences I use after me

that active repetition will help to solidify this structure in your

mind, making it easier for, to use in your own conversations.

If you've been following me for awhile,

you know that I often talk about the importance of consistent,

repetitive, active practice,

because that leads to muscle memory or automaticity,

the ability to do something without thinking about it too much or stressing

about it. You just do it naturally. And of course,

that is what we all want communicating in a second, third or fourth language.

So now let's go ahead and dive in talking about regrets things we wish we could

change in the past or criticizing others actions and choices.

To get started,

I'm going to share three example sentences with you .with each one,

I want you to see if you can identify why I'm using it.

Am I regretting something I did in the past?

Am I wishing something were different? Or am I criticizing someone else?

Example, number one, if I hadn't eaten so much over the holidays,

I wouldn't have been sick for days.

If I hadn't eaten so much over the holidays,

I wouldn't have been sick for days. What do you think?

In that when I am absolutely expressing some regret over a

past choice and action that I made. Example number two,

she would have gotten the job promotion

if she had better prepared for the interview.

She would have gotten the job promotion if she had better prepared.

Do you notice in this sentence, I've reversed that structure?

The first part of the sentence I'm using would have prepared

and in the second I'm using that if plus the past

perfect.

She would have gotten the job promotion if she had better prepared for the

interview. Now,

if you're thinking that example is about criticizing someone else you're right.

I think she made a mistake by not preparing.

And the final example,

if I had known how dark this paint color would look on my walls,

I wouldn't have selected it. Certainly in this one, once again,

I'm expressing some regret or a wish that I had made a different

choice or taken a different action in the past. Now,

in a moment, I want to share a few more examples with you, but before we do,

let's look again at these three examples. Again,

I'm expressing some kind of regret or I'm regretting what someone else

has done, but what really happened in each situation?

Let's go back to example. Number one,

if I hadn't eaten so much over the holidays,

I wouldn't have been sick for days. What really happened?

The truthis I really did eat too much over the holidays. And as a result,

I felt terrible for days. So with that sentence,

I'm expressing my regret.

The wish I have that I had made a different choice.

In example, number two, as I mentioned,

I think this person made a mistake.

The reality is she didn't prepare for her job interview. And as a result,

she wasn't offered the promotion. And of course, in example, number three,

it's clear that I made the wrong paint choice.

I ended up with a room that was way too dark because I didn't pay attention.

And I'm definitely regretting that choice. All right, now that we've got that,

let's look at a few more practical examples so that you really get a sense of

how we use the third conditional.

And don't forget to practice repeating those sentences after me to get

comfortable or familiar with the structure that we're using.

The reason I want you to do this is you know,

that I've got a challenge for you coming at the end of this lesson.

I want to make sure that you're ready to practice and do it successfully.

So let's look at just a few more. If you hadn't missed that catch,

we would have won the game.

How many times have you or someone, you know,

blamed another player in a game for something they did wrong.

If you hadn't missed that catch, we would have won the game.

That one is all about regret and criticizing someone else.

We wouldn't have been late to the meeting if you had followed my directions

again, how many times have you given someone else step by step

instructions on how to do something or how to get somewhere,

but they didn't follow them. That definitely is a frustrating moment.

And as a result, we might criticize that after the fact. And finally,

one last example for today, if I had done a bit more research,

I would have realized this hotel had terrible reviews.

What do you think was the reality? What happened?

In reality maybe I didn't do enough research.

And in the end I ended up at a hotel with a terrible experience.

And if I had done just a bit more research,

I would have known that in advance and probably made a different

choice.

Now that you understand the why and the how of using the third

conditional in English, it's time for you to practice.

I want you to think about the past past actions and choices,

whether they're yours or someone else's.

And I want you to try using the structure that you've learned and

expressing some kind of regret, wishing something were different in the past,

or criticizing someone else's choices and actions as always the best

place to share your examples with me,

get feedback and read examples from others in the Confident English community is

to go to my online lesson at the Speak Confident English website and share in

the comment section below.

You can also do so at the bottom of this video on YouTube,

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wonderful week. Thank you for joining me.

And I look forward to seeing you next time for your Confident English lesson.