The unreal conditionals express hypothetical conditions which have no possibility to occur in the past, present or future but describe what could/might have occurred supposedly.
Example:
- If I were rich, I would travel my whole life.
- If I had a car, I could go anywhere.
- If we had not missed the train, we would have reached the city.
Structures of Unreal Conditionals:
| For Present/Future Conditions |
| If + subject + simple past tense + subject + would/could/might + verb in base form. . . subject + would/could/might + verb in base form + if + subject + simple past tense |
| Example: If I had the money, I would buy a new phone.If I were the president, I would not support war policies.If he were not ill, he could come with us.If I could play tomorrow, I would definitely win the match. |
| For Past Conditions |
| If + subject + past perfect tense + subject + would/could/might + have+ verb in past particple form Subject + would/could/might + have + verb in past participle form + if + subject + simple past tense |
| Example: If I had played well, we would have won the match.I could have caught you if you had been a little closer.If he had written well, I could have given him a better mark. |
Note: There is another structure of unreal conditional which does not use the conjunction if. Had replaces if and creates a conditional sentence.
| Had + subject + verb in past participle + subject + would/could/might + have + verb in past particple |
| Example: Had I reached earlier, I could have caught the train.Had she found the watch, she would have told me. |
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