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Unit 8: Mixed conditionals
Stop using the present perfect too much!
Select a unit
- 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
- 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
- 3 If or whether?
- 4 5 ways to use 'would'
- 5 Let and allow
- 6 Passive voice
- 7 Unless
- 8 Mixed conditionals
- 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
- 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
- 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
- 12 The continuous passive
- 13 Future perfect
- 14 Need + verb-ing
- 15 Have something done
- 16 Wish
- 17 Word stress
- 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
- 19 Passive reporting structures
- 20 The subjunctive
- 21 When and if
- 22 Inversion
- 23 Phrasal verbs
- 24 The future
- 25 Modals in the past
- 26 Narrative tenses
- 27 Phrasal verb myths
- 28 Conditionals review
- 29 Used to - review
- 30 Linking words of contrast
Grammar Reference
Mixed conditionals
These are sentences that combine two different types of conditional patterns.
Mixed third/second conditional form
The most common mixed conditional combination is when we have a third conditional in the if-clause (if + past perfect) followed by a second conditional (would + infinitive) in the main clause.
- If he'd taken the medication, he would be feeling better.
Meaning and use
With this mixed third/second conditional combination we are contrasting an imagined or real event in the past with the present result of that.
- If they'd taken more care, she wouldn't be pregnant now. (They didn't take care. She is pregnant)
- If he had trained more, he wouldn't have collapsed before the end of the race. (He didn't train. He did collapse)
Negative
If he hadn't drunk so much whisky, he wouldn't feel so bad now.
Question
Would you have a better job if you'd studied harder?
To learn more about the second conditional, visit this Grammar Reference page.
To learn more about the third conditional, visit this Grammar Reference page.