Hi, everyone. How are you?

Hoje no podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre o terceiro condicional, ou como dizer “Se alguém tivesse me falado, eu teria ido” e coisas assim em inglês.

Transcrição

Hi, everyone. How have you been? Today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

So how about we practice a very nice structure in English? Just for your reference, it’s called “the third conditional” but don’t worry about that. Let me establish the setting: we’re talking about past events, and about possibilities in the past. This is the basic structure:

If something had happened, something else would have happened.

In Portuguese, we would say something like “Ah, se tal coisa fosse assim, isso não teria acontecido” or “Se tal coisa tivesse sido de tal jeito, eu teria ido”. Just two general examples… So again, the basic structure in English is “If something had happened, something else would have happened”. As another grammar reference, here we’re using the “past participle” of the verbs. When we say “If something had happened…”, happened is the participle of happen. When we say “I would have taken…”, taken is the participle of “take”.

I don’t wanna focus on specific verbs, though. I’m going to use common, well-known verbs in the examples because what I really want to practice with you guys is how to express the idea of the 3rd Conditional. So picture this: you’re out with three of your best friends from school. The four of you have been friends for years. So you’re all, let’s say, at an ice cream parlor, enjoying your favorite ice cream, when all of a sudden another friend from high school walks up to your table. Let’s say her name is Sarah. Sarah is chatting with you and your friends and then she tells you that Michael, another classmate, was in the hospital for a month. He was just released last week.

You and your friends are suprised! ‘Cause you’re all good friends with Michael, and yet this is the first time you’ve heard about Michael being in the hospital.

* You say “Wow, if Michael had called me, I would have paid him a visit”

* Your friend Anna says “Lily is Michael’s girlfriend, and I see her every day at the club! If she had told me about Michael, I would have given him a call”

* Your friend Lisa says “Michael’s dad lives in my building! If  he had told me about Michael, I would have sent him a get-well message!”

* And your friend Melissa says “Well, if I had known Michael was in the hospital… I would have called you guys and we would have all paid him a visit together”

So what are you guys saying? You and your friends are all saying what you would have done, if you had known about Michael. If someone had called you, or if someone had told you about Michael being in the hospital, you guys would have gone for a visit. You guys would have paid him a visit, or maybe you would have at least sent him a card, or given him a call! But you didn’t know, no one told you about Michael, so you didn’t visit him at the hospital, you didn’t send him a card, nothing.

Here’s another one: you’re a student, and one of your classmates tells you that someone found a gold necklace in the science lab this morning. Here are a few thoughts you might have upon hearing about the gold necklace:

* If I had known about the necklace, I would have searched the science lab!

* If I had been to the lab and found the necklace, I would have tried to contact the owner.