6. Grammar: The Third Conditional

Let´s now look again at the last sentences from the previous grammar section:

  • All the conductors in the welding machine´s cables should have been insulated.
  • = All the conductors in the welding machine´s cables ought to have been insulated.
These sentences are intended to show criticism and recommendation. They mean that the cables should have been insulated in the past, but they weren´t.

There is also another form that you can use to express the same meaning. You can communicate the same meaning via the third conditional clause:

If all the conductors in the welding machine´s cables had been insulated, the accident would not have happened.

(meaning that the conductors were not insulated and therefore the accident happened)

Notice also the verb forms used:

If (= Kdyby byly(bývaly)) + the subordinate clause in the Past Perfect Simple (had + past participle),

the main clause: would + the perfect infinitive (would + have + been)

 

The sentence can also start with the main clause; in such a case, no comma is used. However, the grammar is the same:

The accident would not have happened if all the conductors in the welding machine´s cables had been insulated.

 

If you seek an explanation in Czech, read this grammar overview. The third conditional can be found on p. 2 of the document. At the bottom of the same page, you can see how the third conditional clauses fit within the system of English conditional clauses:

Zero conditional: If I am hungry, I have a piece of bread.

First conditional: If I am hungry, I will have a piece of bread.

Second conditional: If I were hungry, I would have a piece of bread.

Third conditional: If I had been hungry, I would have had a piece of bread.

 

Now, practise the third conditionals in this task.