Third Conditional IF (Unreal Past)

Rules Explanations:
If Conditionals
First Conditional IF
Second Conditional IF
Third Conditional IF
IF / Unless
Wish Clauses
In Case

Fill In Exercises:
1. If Clauses Exercises -

2. If Conditionals Exercise
3. If / Unless / When Exercise
4. If vs Unless Exercise 2
5. Conditionals Tenses Exercise
6-7. Zero Conditional Exercise 1 / 2
8-9. First Conditional Exercise 1 / 2
10-11. Second Conditional Exercise 1 / 2
12-13. Third Conditional Exercise 1 / 2
14.Mixed Conditional Exercise

PDF Exercises: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Multiple Choice Quizzes:
If Clauses Quizzes

Third conditional if, also known as type three conditional, is used for unreal situations in the past. One can also think of it as the imaginary case. The condition statement was unreal in the past, the condition was not met and the dependent did not happen.

If the weather had been nice yesterday, I would have barbecued.
If I had been rich, she would have come with me last July.

If the weather had been nice...
The weather was not nice, we couldn't/didn't barbecue. (Unreal/imaginary situation in past)

Type 3 Conditional Grammar

If + Subject + Past Perfect Tense + Subject 2 + would / could / should / might + have + V3

a. If Mr. Thompson had worn his raincoat, he wouldn't have caught a cold.
b. If I hadn't complained, I wouldn't have got my money back.
c. If Mr. Newton had had a driving licence, he would have got the job easily.
d. They would have heard the news if they had listened to the radio.

These events were in the past and with third conditional we talk about what would have happened if the events had happened differently or if they hadn't happened.

Note:

As in the first and second conditional, the if clause and the main clause can be swapped.

If you had paid the bill on time, We wouldn't have had to pay late fee.
We wouldn't have had to pay late fee if you had paid the bill on time.