3 Conditional – rules and examples of usage

Do you regret having done something like that or not having done in the past? In English, the 3 Conditional exists precisely for such a topic. By means of which you can imagine the same perfect scenario of the past. Let's find out how, when, and why to use this grammatical structure, and how about familiarizing ourselves with examples and rules of its usage?

Contents 

1. When is the 3 Conditional used?
2. Sentence construction
    2.1. Alternatives to "if"
3. The 3 or 2 Conditional?

When is the 3 Conditional used?

This type is used to express an imaginary situation in the past. The action has already occurred, and we cannot change its consequences, but we can imagine an alternative scenario.

• If I had asked for a promotion, I would have become a head of my department.
• If you had chosen another university, you wouldn't have had this big loan.

The main rule is that the situation happened in the past – it's already too late to do something about it. The 3 Conditional expresses a feeling of regret and sorrow for past actions and circumstances. However, it can refer not only to the speaker's personal life situations. It is also used to show dissatisfaction with someone's behavior. Pay attention to this example:

• If you had used the map, we wouldn't have got lost.

We can even give advice to ourselves in the past or someone else by replacing "would" with "should". As for a handful of examples, let's consider the following sentences:

• When I had been waiting for her, I should have bought some flowers.
• You should have cleaned the house, when you had had a day off. 

So, to sum up, the 3 Conditional serves as a tool for reflecting on past circumstances and their consequences. Additionally, we can use it for criticizing or giving recommendations to another person.

Sentence construction

In the 3 Conditional, sentences follow a pattern consisting of two parts: the conditional part (if-clause) and the main part or result (main clause). In the if-clause, the Past Perfect tense is used, while in the main clause, modal verbs like “would”, “should”, or “could” are combined with "have" and the third form of the verb.

Here are the schematic rules for making such sentences:

Note that these parts can come in any order. However, if the sentence starts with the main clause, according to the rule, a comma is NOT placed between the two parts. Have a closer look at the examples:

• Bob would have bought a new car if he had saved more money.
• Andy would have been happy if they had got divorced a few years ago.

Thus a comma is placed only AFTER the if-clause before the main clause.

If you need to ask a question, the question word should precede the main clause. Pay attention to the examples:

• If you had had more time last week, what would you have done?
• If you hadn’t started learning English, which language would you have chosen?
• How different would your life have been if you had never studied?

Emphasizing that in the 3 Conditional other modal verbs are also used instead of the word “would”. The structure remains unchanged, but the meaning will differ. Let's see how this rule works:

Depending on the situation, different modal verbs can be used in the 3 Conditional.

Alternatives to "if"

Despite the name, the if-clause can be expressed not only with the word "if", but also with the help of other conjunctions such as "when", "in case", "unless", etc.

As it can be seen from the rules in the table, most of the variations are identical to "if" and do not affect the meaning of the sentence. However, the word "unless" carries a negative connotation and can be equated to "if not". For example, let's compare two sentences:

• If he hadn't met her, he wouldn't have become so successful.
• He wouldn't have become so successful unless he had met her. 

These sentences have the same meaning, but in the second one, we don't include the negative element in the if-clause.

For a better understanding of the rules and examples of using the 3 Conditional, we recommend watching a funny and informative video:

The 3 or 2 Conditional? 

We use the 2 Conditional for imaginary situations as well. So, what's the difference? The main distinction lies in the rules of usage and the tense being discussed. In the 2 type, we mention the present or future tense, something that is imaginary now but theoretically could become true in the future. The 3 type, on the other hand, is used only for the past tense. It's impossible to change what has already happened. Let's compare:

• If I won a million, I would buy a new car.
• If I had won a million in that lottery, I would have bought a new car.

In the first example, we talk about a situation in general, where winning a million in the lottery is unlikely but still possible. Unlike the second sentence, the lottery has already happened, and the million was not won. We can't go back and fix that situation anymore.

These two types of sentences also differ in their functions. While the 2 Conditional allows us to dream about the future, the 3 Conditional, according to the rules, expresses regret for a lost past. Therefore, use the 3 Conditional only when talking about something that has already happened and cannot be changed.