We make the third conditional by using ‘if’ and past perfect then ‘would have’ and the past participle in the second part of the sentence:
if + past perfect, would + have + past participle
would + have + past participle if + past perfect
The Third Conditional is UNREAL. It talks about the past. It’s used to describe a situation that didn’t happen, and to imagine the hypothetical result of that situation.
- If she had studied, she would have passed the exam (but she didn’t study and she didn’t pass)
- If I hadn’t eaten so much, I wouldn’t have felt sick (but I did, and I do).
- If it had rained, you would have gotten wet. (but it didn’t, so I’m dry)
- You would have passed your exam if you had worked harder. (but you didn’t work harder so, you failed)
- I would have believed you if you hadn’t lied to me before. (but you did lie to me before, so I cant possibly believe you now)
- If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn’t have missed the plane. (but we didn’t take a taxi and we missed the plane)
- She wouldn’t have been tired if she had gone to bed earlier. (but guess why she was tired!!)
- She would have become an engineer if she had gone to university. (no university, didn’t become an engineer)
- He would have been on time for the interview if he had left the house at nine. ( He was late because…)
