11. Mixed Conditionals (Part 2) – English Grammar Guide

Don’t forget to watch the first part of this video series Mixed Conditionals (Part 1) here before you move on to view Part 2.

Transcript

Today is Part 2 of our look at mixed conditionals. In this episode, we’re going to look at conditionals with a continuous state condition (that is, something that was true in the past, is true today, and will be true tomorrow) and past results.

To see our other videos on mixed conditionals, check us out on YouTube or Facebook.

Let’s begin by looking at this situation: Yesterday, Paul and Andy, two co-workers, were on a team-building exercise. Paul fell into Andy’s arms. Today, Paul says:

• I trust you, so I let myself fall.

This sentence has two parts. Part 1 (I trust you) relates to a continuous state: I trust you today, I trusted you yesterday, and I will continue to trust you tomorrow.

Part 2 (so I let myself fall) relates to a past result: Yesterday, I let myself fall.

Now let’s look at a mixed conditional sentence:

• If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have let myself fall.

In this sentence, the condition imagines an alternative continuous state (if I didn’t trust you). And the result shows how the past would have been different because of this (I wouldn’t have let myself fall [if I didn’t trust you]).

To construct this type of mixed conditional, we use the past simple in the condition (if I didn’t trust you), and in the result, we use would + present perfect – that is, would + have/has + the past participle. In this case, I wouldn’t have let myself fall. I wouldn’t have let.

Examples

Let’s look at a few more examples to help explain:

• If I were afraid of heights, I wouldn’t have gone skydiving. (But I’m not afraid of heights, so I did).
• If I weren’t allergic to fish, I would have eaten mother’s cooking. (But I am, so I didn’t).
• If I didn’t have kids, I would have gone to the party last night. (But I do, so I didn’t).

OK, now it’s your turn. Try to use this structure to construct your own sentences, and write them in the comments section below. I look forward to hearing from you.