The Past Unreal Conditional

Top Flex 8

Unit 8

Last Saturday, Lucy and Tony had a few misfortunes.They got lost on their way to a wedding. Lucy forgot to bring the directions. She tried touse her cell phone, but the battery was low. So, they had to stop to askfor directions. Although they got an hour late to the ceremony, they enjoyed the party a lot. After all, everything turned out fine.

How would things have been different if they hadn’t gotten lost?Can you imagine?

If they had known the way, they

Last Saturday, Lucy and Tony had a few misfortunes.They got lost on their way to a wedding. Lucy forgot to bring the directions. She tried touse her cell phone, but the battery was low. So, they had to stop to askfor directions. Although they got an hour late to the ceremony, they enjoyed the party a lot. After all, everything turned out fine.

How would things have been different if they hadn’t gotten lost?Can you imagine?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy

Last Saturday, Lucy and Tony had a few misfortunes.They got lost on their way to a wedding. Lucy forgot to bring the directions. She tried touse her cell phone, but the battery was low. So, they had to stop to askfor directions. Although they got an hour late to the ceremony, they enjoyed the party a lot. After all, everything turned out fine.

How would things have been different if they hadn’t gotten lost?Can you imagine?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she

Last Saturday, Lucy and Tony had a few misfortunes.They got lost on their way to a wedding. Lucy forgot to bring the directions. She tried touse her cell phone, but the battery was low. So, they had to stop to askfor directions. Although they got an hour late to the ceremony, they enjoyed the party a lot. After all, everything turned out fine.

How would things have been different if they hadn’t gotten lost?Can you imagine?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they

Last Saturday, Lucy and Tony had a few misfortunes.They got lost on their way to a wedding. Lucy forgot to bring the directions. She tried touse her cell phone, but the battery was low. So, they had to stop to askfor directions. Although they got an hour late to the ceremony, they enjoyed the party a lot. After all, everything turned out fine.

How would things have been different if they hadn’t gotten lost?Can you imagine?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they hadn’t stopped to ask for directions, they

Last Saturday, Lucy and Tony had a few misfortunes.They got lost on their way to a wedding. Lucy forgot to bring the directions. She tried touse her cell phone, but the battery was low. So, they had to stop to askfor directions. Although they got an hour late to the ceremony, they enjoyed the party a lot. After all, everything turned out fine.

How would things have been different if they hadn’t gotten lost?Can you imagine?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they hadn’t stopped to ask for directions, they wouldn’t have enjoyed the party either.

What are the verb tenses used in the sentences above?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they hadn’t stopped to ask for directions, they wouldn’t have enjoyed the party either.

If + past perfect, would/could/might have + past participle

Did they know the way?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they hadn’t stopped to ask for directions, they wouldn’t have enjoyedthe party either.

If + past perfect, would/could/might have + past participle

Did they know the way? No.Did they arrive on time?

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they hadn’t stopped to ask for directions, they wouldn’t have enjoyedthe party either.

If + past perfect, would/could/might have + past participle

Did they know the way? No.Did they arrive on time? No.

To talk about past situations that did not happen, use a past perfect tense (had + past participle) in the if-clause,

If they had known the way, they would have arrived on time.If Lucy had checked the battery of her cell phone, she would have called for help.If they hadn’t stopped to ask for directions, they wouldn’t have enjoyedthe party either.

If + past perfect, would/could/might have + past participle

Did they know the way? No.Did they arrive on time? No.

To talk about past situations that did not happen, use a past perfect tense (had + past participle) in the if-clause, and would have + past participle inthe other part of the sentence.

Note: We can use could to mean ‘would be able to’ and might to mean‘would perhaps’ or ‘would possibly’.

Now, open the books

to page 90 and

complete tasks B and C.