Lesson 2 Untrue Conditionals in the Past

Essential Question

How can we talk about hypothetical situations and outcomes?

Grammar in the World

What Do I Know?

Use the interactive exercise below to see how much you already know about speaking and writing about hypothetical situations in the past:

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

Learn About Untrue Conditionals in the Past

Review: True Conditionals and Untrue Conditionals in the Past

As you can learn in the Grammar Lab’s True Conditionals module, true conditionals deal with routines or habits—either in the present or future.

If I see a snake, I scream!
If I scream too loudly, I will scare my little brother.

You can also learn about Untrue Conditionals in the Present and Future. These conditionals allow us to talk about situations that are not a fact. We use this type of conditional to fantasize about something or make a good guess about a situation. We call them “untrue” conditionals because they aren’t based on the facts of what is happening right now.

If I were in the woods right now, I might see a snake.
If I had no fear of snakes, I would not scream.

Untrue Conditionals in the Past are another way to talk about something that did not happen. Unlike Untrue Conditionals in the Present and Future, in which the second event might possibly happen in the future, Untrue Conditionals in the Past consider events that are over and finished–too late for any possible new outcome. They allow us to consider a hypothetical situation or imaginary event that never happened, and then express what would happen if it had taken place.

They follow this pattern:

Untrue Conditionals in the Past
If this action or event had happened,	then this other action or event would have happened.	But, since the first action or event did not happen, the second action or event never happened, either.
If he had gone to bed earlier,	he would have been well-rested now.	But, he did not go to bed earlier, and now he is exhausted.

Look at the following examples of Untrue Conditionals in the Present. What patterns do you notice about the way each sentence starts and the verb tenses?

Dependent (If) Clause	Independent Clause
If this action or event had happened,	then this other action or event would have happened.
If I had known company was coming,	I would have cleaned the house.
If I had listened more closely,	I would have known you were upset.
If we had learned our lesson the first time,	we would not have repeated it.
If they had practiced more,	they could have won the game.
If she had realized how long the hike was,	she could have chosen to stay home.
If he had known it was going to snow,	he would have brought his gloves.

What patterns do you notice from this chart?

There is a dependent clause beginning with the subordinating conjunction “if,” and an independent clause.
- Note: These types of sentences don’t always use the signal word “if.” For example, you could say:
  - If I had known company was coming, I would have cleaned the house.
  - Had I known company was coming, I would have cleaned the house.
  - I would have cleaned the house had I known company was coming.
Each independent clause is not real, or not true; it did not happen, and so there is no chance for the second clause to happen, either.
- If I had listened more closely, I would have known you were upset.
  - But, I didn’t listen closely, so I did not know you were upset at that time.
You might also notice that we could flip the order of the dependent and independent clauses. You can say either:
- If he had known it was going to snow, he would have brought his gloves.
- He would have brought his gloves if he had known it was going to snow.

Verb Tenses and Past Untrue Conditionals

We use past perfect progressive verbs and irregular verbs when expressing Past Untrue Conditionals. Here are some patterns you will see with this type of conditional:

Past Perfect + Conditional Perfect Progressive
had [past tense verb]	would have been [past perfect progressive verb]
If the piglet had finished his chores,	he would have been playing outside now.
If he had played before his chores,	his mother would have been scolding him.
If he had missed supper,	he would be asking the bear for honey.

Past Perfect Progressive + Conditional Perfect
had been [past perfect progressive verb]	would have [past tense verb]
If the bear had been sleeping,	he would have missed his meal.
If he had been eating,	he would have liked the honey.
If he had kept eating honey,	he would have burped loudly.

Irregular Verbs
Correct	Incorrect
The tiger would have gone to supper if he had been invited.	The tiger would have *went* to supper if he had been invited.
If he hadn’t stopped the bear, he would have eaten the whole pot of honey!	If he hadn’t stopped the bear, he would have *ate* the whole pot of honey!
If he had been more careful, he wouldn’t have fallen in the lake.	If he had been more careful, he wouldn’t have *fell* in the lake.

Do I Get It?

Use the interactive exercise below to see how much you've learned about untrue conditionals in the past: