El tercer condicional

Introducción

Se usa el tercer condicional para describir situaciones irreales en el pasado y los resultados imaginados. Tanto la situación como el resultado existen en el pasado; la situación no ocurrió por lo que el resultado es imposible:

If I had woken up earlier, I wouldn’t have missed the train.

"If I had woken up earlier" - "Si me hubiera despertado más temprano" es la situación irreal.
"I wouldn´t have missed the train" - "No habría perdido el tren" es el resultado imaginado.

La situación real y el resultado: "I didn´t wake up earlier so I missed the train" - no me desperté más temprano por lo que perdí el tren.

Ejemplos:

If she hadn't got the job, she would have been very disappointed.
La situación real y el resultado: "she got the job so she wasn´t disappointed" - ella logró el trabajo por lo que no se quedó decepcionada.
If they had known about the problems with the trains, they would have driven.
La situación real y el resultado: "they didn´t know about the problems with the trains so they didn´t drive" - ellos no sabían nada acerca de los problemas con los trenes por lo que no fueron en coche.
Would I have got sick if I hadn’t eaten the fish?
La situación real y el resultado: "I ate the fish. Was that why I got sick?" - Comí pescado. ¿Fue por eso que me puse mal?

Forma

Se forma el tercer condicional con una cláusula condicional y una cláusula principal:

cláusula condicional: "if" + pasado perfecto
cláusula principal: "would have" + participio pasado

El orden de las cláusulas no es importante: el significado es el mismo.

Se usa una coma entre las dos cláusulas si ponemos la cláusula condicional antes de la oración principal:

Cláusula condicional	Cláusula principal
"If" + pasado perfecto + coma	"would have" + participio pasado
If I’d woken up earlier,	I wouldn’t have missed the train.
If she hadn’t got the job,	she would have been very disappointed.
If they had known about the problems with the trains,	they would have driven instead.
If I hadn’t eaten the fish,	would I have got sick?

No se usa coma si se pone la cláusula principal antes de la cláusula condicional:

Cláusula principal	Cláusula condicional
"would have" + participio pasado	"if" + pasado perfecto
I wouldn’t have missed the train	if I had woken up earlier.
She would have been very disappointed	if she hadn’t got the job.
They would have driven	if they had known about the problems with the trains.
Would I have got sick	if I hadn’t eaten the fish?

Se puede contraer el pronombre sujeto y "would": "I´d" / "you´d" / "we´d" / "they´d" / "she´d" / "he´d" / "it´d"
Se pueden contraer "would" y "have": "would´ve"
Se puede usar el pasado perfecto continuo en la cláusula condicional:
If I’d been looking more carefully, I would have noticed the mistake.
"I didn´t notice the mistake because I wasn´t looking carefully enough." - No pude ver el error porque no había estado prestando demasiada atención.

Práctica

.

1)

They’d have passed their exams if they harder. (study)

2)

If he had followed the directions, he on time. (arrive)

3)

Would you have guessed the ending of the film if you the book. (not read)

4)

Sarah would to Paris if she’d had enough time. (go)

Más práctica

Complete las frases para formar el tercer condicional eligiendo la respuesta correcta entre a, b, c o d:
.

1)

If he had known it was her birthday, he would ____ her a present.

had buy

had bought

have bought

have buy

2)

They wouldn’t have gone if they ____ it would be so crowded.

'd knew

'd know

had knows

had known

3)

Would you ____ to the conference if the company hadn’t paid for the tickets?

had gone

have gone

had went

have went

4)

I would ____ meat if I had known that you are vegetarian.

not had cook

n't have cooked

n't have cook

not had cooked

5)

If I ____ the menu, I wouldn’t have gone to the restaurant.

had seen

have saw

had saw

have seen

6)

If they ____ a map, would they have got lost?

had buy

have bought

had bought

have buy

El uso de "could", "might"

Se puede usar "could" o "might" en lugar de "would" en la cláusula principal del tercer condicional.

If they had known about the problems with the trains, they would have driven.
La cláusula principal con "would" describe un resultado cierto.
If they had known about the problems with the trains, they could have driven.
La cláusula principal con "would" describe un posible resultado como una disposición para poder hacer algo.
If they had known about the problems with the trains, they might have driven.
La cláusula principal con "would" describe un resultado posible.