Grammar, compared
Second vs third conditional
The second conditional imagines now or the future. The third imagines a different past, one that did not happen.
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| Second conditional | Third conditional |
|---|---|
| If I had time, I would help you. (Now, but I don't have time.) | If I had had time, I would have helped you. (In the past, I didn't have time.) |
| If I were you, I would call her. (Advice, now.) | If I had been there, I would have called her. (I wasn't there, in the past.) |
| If we won the contract, we would hire two people. (Imaginary, future.) | If we had won the contract, we would have hired two people. (We didn't win it, in the past.) |
How each one works
| Point | Second conditional | Third conditional |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Imaginary now or in the future | Imaginary past, it did not happen |
| If clause | if plus past simple | if plus past perfect (had plus past participle) |
| Result | would plus base verb | would have plus past participle |
| Example | If I had time, I would call you. | If I had had time, I would have called you. |
| Use | Advice, hypothetical situations, unlikely futures | Regrets, explaining what went differently |
Watch out if you speak Spanish
- The double had in if I had had looks wrong but is correct: the first had is the auxiliary, the second is the past participle of have.
- Do not use would have in the if clause. Say if I had known, not if I would have known, which is a common Spanish-speaker error.
- Si hubiera sabido is third conditional in English: if I had known. Si supiera is second conditional: if I knew.
- Use the third conditional to explain a past result, not to give advice about now. For advice, stay in the second conditional: if I were you.
Practice
Grammar practice
Choose or type the answer for each sentence, then check.
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Questions
- What is a mixed conditional?
- A conditional that mixes times: if I had studied medicine (past), I would be a doctor now (present). It is a third conditional if clause with a second conditional result.
- Why do I need had twice in the if clause?
- Because the if clause uses the past perfect, which is had plus a past participle. With the verb have itself, that gives had had.
Keep going
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