Topic 1.8.3 Second, Third and Mixed Conditionals
SECOND, THIRD AND MIXED CONDITIONALS
Warm up
1.If you get a promotion at work, how will it change your lifestyle?
2.If your company introduces a new policy, how will it affect your daily routine?
3.If you attend an international business conference, what opportunities might you have?
Grammar
Look at these sentences.
What sort of conditionals are they?
How is each conditional formed?
1.If I won the lottery, I would buy a BMW.
2.If I hadn’t come to Spain, I wouldn’t have met my wife.
Look at sentences below.
What is different about these conditionals?
How is each conditional formed?
1.If I weren’t so shy, I would have had more job opportunities in my life.
2.If I hadn’t come to Spain, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you now.
Why do we use mixed conditionals like these?
Match uses i and ii with sentences 1–2 above.
i to hypothesize about the present consequences of a past action
ii to hypothesize about the past consequences of a present situation or state
Grammar Reference
| Second conditional | |
| Use | We use second conditional sentences when we are less certain of potential consequences or to talk about imaginary or ‘unreal’ situations. In these situations, we consider the action more difficult to achieve and so less likely to happen. |
| Form | If + Past Simple, would/could/might + main verb |
| If you took more risks, you might make more money. | |
| She wouldn’t be so successful if she didn’t work so hard. | |
| Third conditional | |
| Use | We use third conditional sentences to talk about hypothetical past actions or situations. In these sentences, we are speculating about past possible actions or situations that didn’t happen. |
| Form | If + Past Perfect, would/could/might have + past participle |
| If he had listened to me, he could have had higher returns on his investment. | |
| Markowitz wouldn’t have received a Nobel Prize if he hadn’t contributed to economic thinking. | |
| Mixed conditionals | |
| Use I | Hypothetical past actions with present consequences We can use mixed conditional sentences, combining parts of the second and third conditional, to talk about hypothetical past actions or situations and their imaginary present consequences. |
| Form | If + Past Perfect [3rd conditional], would/could/might + infinitive [2nd conditional] |
| If he hadn’t taken some calculated risks, he wouldn’t be a billionaire today. (But he did take some calculated risks and he is a billionaire today.) | |
| She wouldn’t have her own company now if she hadn’t met that investor. (But she does have her own company now because she met that investor.) | |
| Use II | Hypothetical present situations or states with past consequences We can also use mixed conditional sentences to talk about hypothetical present situations or states and their imaginary past consequences. |
| Form | If + Past Simple/Continuous [2nd cond.], would/could/might +have + past participle [3rd cond.] |
| If it weren’t so difficult to find investors in the current economic climate, we would have set up our business by now. (But it is difficult to find investors and we haven’t set up our business.) | |
| He wouldn’t have become an accountant if he weren’t (wasn’t) so good at maths. (But he is very good at maths and he did become an accountant.) | |
Practice exercise 1
Decide whether these sentences are second, third or mixed conditionals, (i) or (ii).
1.If Descartes hadn’t inspired Harry Markowitz, he wouldn’t have become interested in the economics of uncertainty.
2.If there hadn’t been a major financial crisis in 2008, the world would look very different today.
3.If you invested that money in real estate rather than stocks, it would probably make you more in the long term.
4.She wouldn’t be where she is today if she hadn’t met the right people.
5.We wouldn’t have spent our entire travel budget on one trip if Zurich wasn’t such an expensive city.
6.I wouldn’t have failed the economics module if I weren’t so hopeless at maths.
Practice exercise 2
Speaking
Complete the sentences. Try to use different conditional forms.
- I would speak better English now if …
- If I could choose again, I …
- If [name of a famous person] hadn’t come up with the idea of … , …
- If I weren’t so …
- The world today would be very different if …
In pairs, compare your sentences from the previous exercise and discuss how your lives would be / would have been different if you had made different decisions or if certain things hadn’t happened.
More speaking activities
1.”What Would You Do If…” (Second Conditionals)
- If you won a million euros, how would you spend it?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
- If you were the CEO of a big company, what changes would you make?
- What would you do if you could live in any time period in history?
- What would you do if you discovered a hidden talent nobody knew about?
- What would you do if you found a suitcase filled with money on the street?
- What would you do if you were given the chance to switch careers completely?
- What would you do if you were elected as the leader of your country?
2.”Looking Back” (Third Conditionals)
- If you had studied something different at university, what would you be doing now?
- If you had been born 100 years ago, what challenges would you have faced?
- If you had started learning English earlier, how would your life be different?
- If you had taken a different job in the past, how would your career have changed?
- If you had studied abroad, what experiences do you think you would have had?
- If you had prepared better for a big challenge, what would the outcome have been?
3.”How Did This Happen?” (Mixed Conditionals)
Create a mixed conditional sentence to explain the situation.
For example:
Present: “I don’t have a car now.”
Mixed conditional answer: “If I had saved more money last year, I would have a car now.”
Examples for practice:
- “I didn’t finish the report, so I’m stressed today.”
- “We didn’t invest in technology, so our company is struggling now.”
- “I didn’t study French, so I can’t apply for this job now.
4.Debate: Choices and Consequences
Split into teams and discuss these hypothetical situations.
- Should you take a job offer abroad?
- Should your company adopt a risky new technology?
- Should companies prioritize hiring local employees or invest in international talent?
- Should governments provide free higher education to everyone?
- Should people work fewer hours per week to improve their quality of life?
Try and use conditionals to justify your arguments:
- “If we adopted this technology, we would increase our efficiency.”
- “If we had tested it earlier, we wouldn’t be in this position now.”