Hallo, my dear friends! Welcome to Series English!
My name is Antonia Romaker
and today we are going to talk about
one of the most complicated topics in the English grammar -
and that is mixed conditionals.
I should say that this topic is rather advanced already,
and that's why if you master it,
you'll sound more like a native speaker.
So let's get cracking,
today we are going to talk about two constructions.
The first one, mixed three and two conditionals,
is extremely popular.
It's much more popular than the second one.
What is it?
Here we talk about an imagined or a real event in the past
and a present result.
So we combine an imagined or a real event in the past
a result in present.
That's why number three is
an imagined or real event in the past
and number two is a present result.
Now let's take a look at how this construction works,
how it is formed.
Here we are supposed to use Past Perfect in the IF-clause
and would plus an infinitive in the would clause.
So actually it is quite logical,
because when we deal with number three conditional
we are supposed to use perfect forms.
That's why we use Past Perfect in the IF-clause.
And when we use the second type of conditionals
in the would clause, this is how it looks like.
So let's take a look at a couple of examples.
If you had taken my advice, you wouldn't have any problems now.
So we have an event in the past -
you... if you had taken my advice, so you didn't take my advice.
This is in the past, and we have a present result.
You wouldn't have any problems now -
so you do have problems now,
that is a present result.
The second example -
If she'd taken reasonable precautions,
she wouldn't be pregnant now.
Once again we have an event in the past -
if she'd taken reasonable precautions -
Here we have an imagined (situation) -
So if she actually had taken reasonable precautions,
I wish she had taken them,
but she didn't, so we imagine.
And we have a present result -
she wouldn't be pregnant now.
Well the result is actually that she's pregnant now.
This is just a negative form.
So we combine and event in the past and a present result.
That's why here we have a conditional number three,
and here we have a conditional number two.
Two more examples,
so that it would be one hundred percent clear to you.
First - If he'd gone to a university he might have a better job.
So if he had gone to a university -
an imagined event in the past,
he might have a better job -
a present result.
So the result is that he doesn't have a good job now.
If we had won the competition
we would be going to New York next week.
So here we have an event in the past,
a competition which we took part in,
but unfortunately didn't win.
And the result is going to New York next week.
By the way, it is actually not a present result,
it's even a result in future,
which is also possible, so be careful.
Here I should point out that we can convey the same idea
using conditional number three,
when we are supposed to use perfect forms
in both parts of the sentence.
So in the IF clause we use Past Perfect
and in the second clause we use would
plus a perfect infinitive.
An example, well actually two.
We transform the sentences a little, take a look.
If you had taken my advice,
you would have solved all your problems by now.
As you can see the idea is very close,
but it is formulated a little bit differently.
So here - you would have solved all your problems -
so the result is actually the same,
it is in present, you wouldn't have any problems now,
but we change the sentence a little bit,
and make the action complete.
You would have solved all your problems by now.
The second example.
If she had taken reasonable precautions
she wouldn't have got herself pregnant.
The same here,
the action in the second part of the sentence
now changed into a finished action.
And that's why we use type three conditional
in both parts of the sentence.
It is possible.
In this case of course it's not a mixed conditional sentence.
And now we are going to talk about one more type
of mixed conditional sentences.
Here we have the opposite combination.
2 and 3, mixed conditionals 2 and 3.
With this combination we are describing
ongoing circumstances in relation to
a previous past event.
Once again it is all very logical.
Type two is connected with present,
type three is all about the past.
And that's why the structure is also quite understandable.
In the if clause we use Past Simple,
as we would it type two.
And in the second clause we use would plus a perfect infinitive,
that is have plus the verb in the third form,
if it is an irregular verb,
or the verb with the ending -ed.
This is a perfect infinitive.
And usually we use it in type three conditional sentences.
For example.
If he weren't so short-tempered,
he wouldn't have been fired so quickly.
At the very beginning we have ongoing circumstances,
some information which is true now,
it is still true now in present.
He is short-tempered, he is still short-tempered.
And in the second part we have a past event.
He wouldn't have been fired so quickly.
So he was fired rather quickly, because of his character.
OK and the second example.
If I weren't so lazy,
I would have worked harder and passed my exam.
The same here.
I am lazy.
So that's why I didn't work hard enough,
and I didn't pass my exam.
Here we have some information connected with present.
So it is some general information, a quality for example.
Here we can also say something like - if you had more courage,
he would have saved that girl,
for example, but he walked away.
OK that's it for today.
We talked about two constructions.
The first was much more common,
this one is less common but is still used sometimes.
That's why we need to know how it works.
So that's it.
I hope that now you have a better understanding of
what mixed conditionals are all about.
If you have any questions, as usual feel free to write to me.
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And I hope to see you soon.
Happy English and Russian practice! Bye-bye!