Mixed Conditional
Sometimes the two parts of a conditional sentence refer to different times. This is called a mixed conditional. Ready to learn?
What Are Mixed Conditionals?
A mixed conditional is constructed from type 2 conditionals and type 3 conditionals.
Mixed Conditional: Structure
Mixed conditional structure can be:
- If + type 2 conditional, type 3 conditional
- If + type 3 conditional, type 2 conditional
The number 2 structure is the more common one. Check out the example:
If I had taken an aspirin, I wouldn’t have a headache now.
Let’s have a quick review of what the second and third conditional are.
Type 2 conditional
It is used to talk about hypothetical or unlikely present or future situations. Here are the examples
- If + past simple, would + base form
If it wasn’t raining outside, I would take the kids to park.
This sentence is hypothetical. It is raining now and it has a result in the present.
If I had 1M dollars, I would buy a house.
This sentence is a hypothetical situation that is very unlikely to happen.
Type 3 conditional
It is used to talk about hypothetical past situations.
- If + past perfect, would have + past participle
If it hadn’t been raining, I would have taken the kids to the park.
Mixed Conditional
As we have mentioned earlier, mixed conditionals are created by combination of 2 and 3 conditionals.
Let’s see some examples of the first structure:
If + third conditional + , + second conditional
For example:
If she had won the lottery, she’d be a millionaire now.
The ‘if clause’ is a hypothetical past situation, and ‘she’d be a millionaire now’ is the present result of that imaginary past situation.
If I had finished high school, I would be entering college next week.
The ‘if clause’ is a hypothetical past situation, and ‘I would be entering college next week’ is the future result of that imaginary past situation.
Now let’s see some examples of the second structure:
If + second conditional, third conditional
For example:
If I weren’t so scared of snakes, I would have gone to the reptile zoo.
In this example, ‘if clause’ is a hypothetical present situation with a past result.
If I weren’t moving to my new house next month, I would have come to your birthday party.
In this case, ‘if clause’ is a hypothetical future situation with a past result.
Time and Tense
Mixed conditional help us talk about actions through different times.
We use different tenses to talk about different times. But keep in mind that tense and time are not always the same. For example:
She worked at a hospital.
She was working as a nurse.
These two examples do not have the same tense, but they are both referring to the same time, which is past.
Mixed conditionals are sentences that use two different times. Check out the examples:
If I had slept earlier, I wouldn’t have missed my appointment.
Both the ‘if clause’ and the ‘main clause’ have the same time: past. But they have different tenses in the past.
If I had slept earlier, I would be at my appointment now.
Mixed Conditionals: Functions
The most common combinations of mixed conditionals are:
1. Past Action with Present Result
With this type of mixed conditional, we are talking about changing a past action and what the hypothetical present result would be. But this result cannot happen, because we cannot change the past. check out the examples:
If I had finished high school, I would be a college student now.
Here in this example, the speaker is not a college student now, but he is talking about a change in past and its result.
We would be getting married if you had said yes.
2. Present Condition with Past Result
With this type of mixed conditional, we imagine a different situation in the present. For example, if something were different, how the past hypothetically would be different as the result.
If she were more hardworking, she would have succeeded.
If I weren’t injured, I would have played.
3. Future Action with Past Result
This function is a little more complicated than the other two, so let’s explain it with an example. Imagine that you are a soccer player and tomorrow you have an important match. You will probably stay home the night before the match, eat a healthy dinner, and try to be well-rested. So you might say:
If I didn’t have an important match tomorrow, I would have stayed up late.
Here, the person means: I am not staying up late because I have an important match tomorrow.
If I wasn’t participating in a match, I would have eaten ice cream after dinner.