TransWikia.com

third conditional & perfect past

English Language & Usage Asked by xBlind on December 2, 2020

I know in order to have perfect past we must have a simple past too.

but in conditional type 3. I cannot see any simple past.

"If she had gone to university, she would have found a really good job."

The past perfect is ‘If she had gone to university’

but I wonder where is the simple past.

and what is the tense of this sentence

"she would have found a really good job."

One Answer

If she had gone to university, she would have found a really good job.

This is what is known as a type 3 conditional, which is used when the situation is hypothetical and in the past; also, the main clause ("she would have found a really good job") was probable but did not actually happen.

Examples:

If I had fallen, I could have broken my arm. [perfect conditional]

and

If I had fallen, I would have been flying for a few seconds. [progressive perfect conditional]

The "if" clause uses the past perfect tense, and the main clause uses the perfect conditional or progressive perfect conditional tense. The perfect/progressive perfect tenses are made conditional by adding a modal auxiliary verb (such as "would") to the main verb.

One should not use the simple past for the main clause in a type 3 conditional sentence; instead, one should use the perfect conditional or progressive perfect conditional tenses.

Correct answer by user392938 on December 2, 2020

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP