Mixed Conditionals

Those of you who have been following the Conditional Tutorial should now be familiar with present, past and future conditional verb forms. Sometimes Unreal Conditional sentences are mixed. This means that the time in the if-clause is not the same as the time in the result. Study the examples below to learn how to mix conditional verb forms like a native speaker. Verbs in green are in the Present Unreal Conditional. Verbs in red are in the Past Unreal Conditional. Verbs in purple are in the Future Unreal Conditional.

Mixed Conditional Patterns

PAST Examples:

PRESENT

If I had won the lottery, I would be rich.

BUT I DIDN'T WIN THE LOTTERY IN THE PAST AND I AM NOT RICH NOW.

If I had taken French in high school, I would have more job opportunities.
BUT I DIDN'T TAKE FRENCH IN HIGH SCHOOL AND I DON'T HAVE MANY JOB OPPORTUNITIES.

If she had been born in the United States, she wouldn't need a visa to work here.
BUT SHE WASN'T BORN IN THE UNITED STATES AND SHE DOES NEED A VISA NOW TO WORK HERE.

PAST Examples:

FUTURE

If she had signed up for the ski trip last week, she would be joining us tomorrow.
BUT SHE DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THE SKI TRIP LAST WEEK AND SHE ISN'T GOING TO JOIN US TOMORROW.

If Mark had gotten the job instead of Joe, he would be moving to Shanghai.
BUT MARK DIDN'T GET THE JOB AND MARK IS NOT GOING TO MOVE TO SHANGHAI.

If Darren hadn't wasted his Christmas bonus gambling in Las Vegas, he would go to Mexico with us next month.
BUT DARREN WASTED HIS CHRISTMAS BONUS GAMBLING IN LAS VEGAS AND HE WON'T GO TO MEXICO WITH US NEXT MONTH.

PRESENT Examples:

PAST

If I were rich, I would have bought that Ferrari we saw yesterday.

BUT I AM NOT CURRENTLY RICH AND THAT IS WHY I DIDN'T BUY THE FERRARI YESTERDAY.

If Sam spoke Russian, he would have translated the letter for you.
BUT SAM DOESN'T SPEAK RUSSIAN AND THAT IS WHY HE DIDN'T TRANSLATE THE LETTER.

If I didn't have to work so much, I would have gone to the party last night.
BUT I HAVE TO WORK A LOT AND THAT IS WHY I DIDN'T GO TO THE PARTY LAST NIGHT.

PRESENT Examples:

FUTURE

If I didn't have so much vacation time, I wouldn't go with you on the cruise to Alaska next week.
BUT I DO HAVE A LOT OF VACATION TIME AND I WILL GO ON THE TRIP NEXT WEEK.

If Cindy were more creative, the company would send her to New York to work on the new advertising campaign.
BUT CINDY IS NOT CREATIVE AND THE COMPANY WON'T SEND HER TO NEW YORK TO WORK ON THE NEW CAMPAIGN.

If Dan weren't so nice, he wouldn't be tutoring you in math tonight.

BUT DAN IS NICE AND HE IS GOING TO TUTOR YOU TONIGHT.

FUTURE Examples:

PAST

If I weren't going on my business trip next week, I would have accepted that new assignment at work.
BUT I AM GOING TO GO ON A BUSINESS TRIP NEXT WEEK, AND THAT IS WHY I DIDN'T ACCEPT THAT NEW ASSIGNMENT AT WORK.

If my parents weren't coming this weekend, I would have planned a nice trip just for the two of us to Napa Valley.
BUT MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO COME THIS WEEKEND, AND THAT IS WHY I DIDN'T PLAN A TRIP FOR THE TWO OF US TO NAPA VALLEY.

If Donna weren't making us a big dinner tonight, I would have suggested that we go to that nice Italian restaurant.
BUT SHE IS GOING TO MAKE US A BIG DINNER TONIGHT, AND THAT IS WHY I DIDN'T SUGGEST THAT WE GO TO THAT NICE ITALIAN RESTAURANT.

FUTURE Examples:

PRESENT

If I were going to that concert tonight, I would be very excited.

BUT I AM NOT GOING TO GO TO THAT CONCERT TONIGHT AND THAT IS WHY I AM NOT EXCITED.

If Sandy were giving a speech tomorrow, she would be very nervous.

BUT SANDY IS NOT GOING TO GIVE A SPEECH TOMORROW AND THAT IS WHY SHE IN NOT NERVOUS.

If Seb didn't come with us to the desert, everyone would be very disappointed.
BUT SEB WILL COME WITH US TO THE DESERT AND THAT IS WHY EVERYONE IS SO HAPPY.

EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS

Conditionals
What is the conditional?
The answer is in the root of the word. 'Conditional' is formed from 'condition'. One definition of 'condition' is: 'Something that is essential for something else to happen.' So every conditional actually says 'If this happens, then that will happen as well.' There are different types of conditional, because we use different grammar to say how likely it is that something will happen in the first place. So, if you understand this, we can continue. Examples of the conditional If you study English, you need to know about conditionals.

When you read this sentence, you must ask yourself a question. 'Do I study English?' The answer for some people might be 'no', but for you it is 'yes'. And because the first part of the conditional - the 'study English' is true, the second part is true as well. You do need to know about conditionals. If I won the lottery, I would buy a helicopter. With this example, the question is 'Will I win the lottery?' The answer is probably 'no'. So will I buy a helicopter? Probably not. However, the conditional in the sentence says that maybe I will win the lottery, maybe I won't. But even though it is unlikely I will win the lottery, it is certain that if I do win the lottery, I will buy a helicopter. With the conditional, you are saying that if the first part happens, even if it's very unlikely to happen, then the second part will certainly happen too. Conditionals also work the other way around If your English is perfect, you can stop reading now. So ask yourself, 'Is my English perfect?' No? Then the first part of the conditional is not true, so the second part is not right either. Keep reading!

How is the conditional formed?

There are two parts to the conditional. One is called the 'if clause'. The 'if clause' talks about things that might happen. These things might be very likely to happen, or they might be improbable, or even impossible. Here are some examples of 'if clauses' For example If the baby wakes up while I am out ... If I buy a new car ... If aliens landed on earth ... If I were ten years younger ... Some of these things may never happen. But the 'result clause' will always happen if the 'if clause' happens. The 'result clause' is a consequence of the 'if clause', and the grammar of the conditional says that the 'result clause' must happen if the 'if clause does'. Here are the sentences with the 'result clause' added. If the baby wakes up while I am out, he will start to cry. If I buy a new car, it will be a Rolls-Royce. If aliens landed on earth, life would change forever. If I were ten years younger, my sister would be older than I. The two clauses can come in any order. You can start with the 'result clause' (for dramatic emphasis), or with the 'if clause'. If there is a pronoun in the second clause, and you change the order of the clauses, you should still make the pronoun come after the subject noun. So here are the sentences with the clauses changed around. The baby will start to cry if he wakes up while I am out. My new car will be a Rolls-Royce, if I buy one. Life would change forever if aliens landed on earth. My sister would be older than I if I were ten years younger. Did you notice that if the result clause comes first in a short sentence, you don't use a comma? That's right. You don't use a comma if the result clause comes first in a short sentence.

What types of conditionals are there?

There are three basic types of conditionals. First conditionals deal with things that are very likely to happen. If Bill sees you tomorrow, he will ask you to call me.

Notice that when the 'if clause' has a future meaning we still do not use 'will'. However, you use future in the 'result clause'. If the 'if clause' is present we can use present or future in the 'result clause' depending on what we want to say. If it is so easy, you can do it yourself. If it is only a kilometer to town, we will be there before lunch. However, if you can use 'when instead of 'if' and use present tenses for both clauses you have what is sometimes called a Zero Conditional for something that happens often and always in the same way. If you heat water enough, it boils. Can be re-written as When you heat water enough, it boils. The Second conditional talks of things that probably won't happen. When we talk of probabilities we use a particular 'mood' called the subjunctive. For now, we can consider subjunctives in conditionals as being rather like past tenses. (Although the meaning is different, the grammar is almost the same). Look at the example If Bill sees you tomorrow, he will ask you to call me. Maybe Bill is on another continent, and it is not likely you will see him tomorrow. I can show that I do not think this will happen by changing the structure of the conditional. If Bill saw you tomorrow, he would ask you to call me. We can also write this as an 'explicit subjunctive' and say If Bill were to see you tomorrow, he would ask you to call me. Because things in the present or future might always be possible, we use second conditionals even for things that we are nearly 100% certain will not happen. If I was ten years younger, I might enjoy his company. The third conditional is sometimes called the 'impossible' conditional, because it talks of events in the past. Things in the past cannot be changed, but we sometimes like to imagine what would have happened if the past had been different. For example If I had not robbed the bank, I would not be in jail today. The third conditional uses a past perfect in the 'if clause' and 'would have' in the 'result clause'. For example If you had taken the car, you would have got there quickly. If this explanation is too simple for you, look at the grammar of the conditional in the advanced section. On the other hand, you should read the grammar in the elementary section if this seems too difficult. If the level seems right, then we can do some exercises.