{"id":1162,"date":"2015-02-11T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T17:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:32","slug":"special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Conditionals, as you may recall, are if\/then statements that express cause and effect. This blog has already given you a good <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/review-of-conditionals\/\">overview of the zero, first, second, and third conditionals<\/a>. We\u2019ve also shown you <A href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/using-would-could-and-should-in-conditionals\/\">how to use \u201cwould,\u201d \u201ccould,\u201d and \u201cshould\u201d<\/a> in first, second and third conditional statements. In this post, I\u2019ll focus on the unique and grammar of third conditional statements. This kind of statement describes past events that could have happened, but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Third conditional statements have more complicated grammar than other conditionals. The zero, first, and second conditionals only use simple tenses in their \u201cif\u2019 and \u201cthen\u201d clauses. In contrast, the third conditional uses past perfect for the \u201cif\u201d clause. Third conditional \u201cthen\u201d clauses use present perfect tense.<\/p>\n<p>Below is the grammar pattern for third conditional statements, followed by several example third conditional sentences. (In the example sentences, past perfect forms are in <strong>bold<\/strong>. \u201cwould\u201d is in <em>italics<\/em>, and present perfect forms are underlined.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><strong>THIRD CONDITIONAL GRAMMAR PATTERN<\/strong>:<br \/>\n<strong>If <\/strong>+ past perfect, (optional <strong>then<\/strong>) + would + present perfect<\/p>\n<p>If I <strong>had gotten up<\/strong> earlier today, I <em>would<\/em> have had time to eat breakfast.<\/p>\n<p>If I <strong>had had<\/strong> time to eat breakfast, I <em>would<\/em> have been less hungry on my way to work.<\/p>\n<p>If I <strong>had been<\/strong> less hungry on my way to work, I <em>would<\/em> have driven more attentively.<\/p>\n<p>If I <strong>had driven<\/strong> more attentively, I <em>would<\/em> not have parked in a handicapped parking space.<\/p>\n<p>If I <strong>had not parked<\/strong> in a handicapped parking space, I <em>would<\/em> not have gotten an expensive parking ticket.<\/p>\n<p>If you still find this structure to be kind of confusing, don\u2019t feel bad. Many ESL students find it hard to understand and make third conditional statements. However, with a little practice, it\u2019s possible to become much comfortable with this form. I\u2019ve made a worksheet to help you master the third conditional. Download it here: <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2015\/01\/THIRD_CONDITIONAL_WORKSHEET.pdf\"target=\"_blank\/\">Third Conditional Worksheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conditionals, as you may recall, are if\/then statements that express cause and effect. This blog has already given you a good overview of the zero, first, second, and third conditionals. We\u2019ve also shown you how to use \u201cwould,\u201d \u201ccould,\u201d and \u201cshould\u201d in first, second and third conditional statements. In this post, I\u2019ll focus on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Conditionals, as you may recall, are if\/then statements that express cause and effect. This blog has already given you a good overview of the zero, first, second, and third conditionals. We\u2019ve also shown you how to use \u201cwould,\u201d \u201ccould,\u201d and \u201cshould\u201d in first, second and third conditional statements. In this post, I\u2019ll focus on the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-11T17:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:46:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/\",\"name\":\"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-11T17:00:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\",\"name\":\"David Recine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Recine\"},\"description\":\"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"TOEFL\",\"IELTS\",\"TOEIC\",\"PET\",\"FCE\",\"BULATS\",\"Eiken\",\"SAT\",\"ACT\",\"GRE\",\"GMAT\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\",\"Italian\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Content Creator\",\"worksFor\":\"Magoosh\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional","og_description":"Conditionals, as you may recall, are if\/then statements that express cause and effect. This blog has already given you a good overview of the zero, first, second, and third conditionals. We\u2019ve also shown you how to use \u201cwould,\u201d \u201ccould,\u201d and \u201cshould\u201d in first, second and third conditional statements. In this post, I\u2019ll focus on the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","article_published_time":"2015-02-11T17:00:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-10T21:46:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"David Recine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_site":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Recine","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/","name":"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-02-11T17:00:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/special-grammar-lesson-the-third-conditional\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Special Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","description":"Online TOEFL Preparation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768","name":"David Recine","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Recine"},"description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}