Third Conditional in English + Example Sentences [How and Why to Use It]

There are two reasons why we use the third conditional in English - to express regret about the past or to criticize someone else’s actions/decisions.
Unfortunately, most third conditional lessons make this a challenge.
You’ve probably read, “The third conditional is used for unreal or impossible situations in the past.”
And sure, that’s true. But what does it mean?
In this Confident English lesson, you’ll learn exactly why the third conditional is useful for English conversation and how to use it accurately.
Throughout the lesson I’ll provide examples so you can practice.
To get my full lesson, view more examples, and share with me, I recommend visiting www.speakconfidentenglish.com...
#SpeakConfidentEnglish #EnglishGrammar #ThirdConditional #EnglishConditionals #KZbinTeacher #EnglishWithAnnemarie #ConditionalSentences
★ ENGLISH CONFIDENCE & FLUENCY ONLINE
Get my free training “How to Say What You Want in English” ➜ www.speakconfidentenglish.com...
Free Masterclass on How to Answer ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ in Job Interviews ➜ www.speakconfidentenglish.com...
★ LEARN WITH ME
Confident Women Community ➜ www.speakconfidentenglish.com...
Fluency School ➜ www.speakconfidentenglish.com...
Confident Job Interviews ➜ www.speakconfidentenglish.com...
Hi, I’m Annemarie - an English teacher whose expertise is in spoken communication, confidence-building, and fluency. Everything I do at Speak Confident English is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your life and work in English. On my KZbin channel, I share weekly lessons with strategies, skills, and resources to help you:
● Have English conversations that are fun
● Communicate clearly without getting stuck
● Interview and get the job you want
● Share your opinions in a business meeting
● Make friends easily and start a conversation with anyone in English
● Go to the grocery store, order a coffee, and live in English, without stress
● Feel comfortable and confidence with your voice in English
Thank you for watching my videos and trusting me to support you on your English confidence journey.
★ CONNECT WITH ME:
WEBSITE: www.speakconfidentenglish.com/
PINTEREST: / spkconfidenteng
FACEBOOK: / speakconfidentenglish
LINKEDIN: / speak-confident-english
INSTAGRAM: / speakconfidentenglish

[@teresakrajewska4911]

Never disappointed with your lessons. Neither me nor my students. Clear, neat, well planned, clever and interesting. What more to expect from a Perfect Teacher!? Elderly Granny Boomer (?) English Teacher.

[@flaviamariaalmeida7421]

If I had known about Annemarie youtube lessons earlier my English skills would have improved faster.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Great examples with the third conditional, Flavia! And you're in the right place to improve. 😊

[@miguelislasmoving_crk5932]

To Give us real contexts to use this conditional makes easier to learn it. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@raoufallani5142]

Thank you so much teacher excellent lesson - I love english - Raouf From Tunisia

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

You are so welcome!

[@mariazubair1309]

If I had practiced daily, I would have improved my spoken skills.

[@saskatchewan2908]

You’re my best favorite teacher 👍💐🌹❤️

[@mahibullahkhan4047]

Hi!! I am from Bangladesh. I have found your lesson is very easy to understand.

[@josejimenez861]

Splendid lesson super easy and clear to undertand Annemarie.. Beside You are the most Beautiful Teacher and have such a Charming Personality.. Thanks a MIllion..

[@evertonpereira811]

Thanks for the class! From São Paulo Brazil.

[@hemanthadesilva527]

Perfect Explanation, my Sweet Lady.

[@asadbekakbarov6447]

If I had known you were teaching, I would have been here earlier 😁

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Great example with the third conditional! And thank you for the kind comment.

[@mohammedsatti2855]

Do you all like her way of teaching! I really do. Honestly

[@suanyangelaoliveira949]

Very good. Thank you

[@krishnasarkar1348]

What a brilliant explanation!

[@josejesus861]

Excellent class. Smart and clear teacher. Congratulations

[@silvestersogen6353]

Thanks for sharing

[@paulooliveira-io3xc]

Thank you, Annemarie! I have been following your videos in order to improve my confidence in English, thank you!

[@lucianodomingues2290]

Amazing class.

[@adamumar2699]

So nice.

[@jksenglish5115]

Thank you

[@pacoserna527]

If I would had met you years before I would speak English much better. Another time thanks for all your videos!!!

[@alonsocobarrubias2593]

Really: A Highly Efficient Class is what I Need to Strengthen My Learning . I Speak and Understand Little. I Would like. Reach an Acceptable Domain. " Thank - You " A Lot Teacher Annamarie. For These Wonderful Classes.

[@francescobottiglieri4530]

Hi Annemarie, thank you for this important lesson to me. If I had approached the third conditional the way you explained it here I would have learnt how to use it way too fast.

[@daravish8644]

We are grateful ... BTW I really love ur voice it reminds me meditation

[@amilton1015]

Amazing lesson great teacher! From Curitiba

[@evamanesmartinez6475]

If I had joined before your interesting classes, I would have be more confident in English. Thks!!

[@ramakrishna.meesala7166]

Very useful for teaching the subject in schools. 👍👍

[@alexd2502]

I would have improved my English skills more if I had found your KZbin channel earlier before now.

[@raduacuceu]

Thank you Annemarie , once again things have become clear to me ; "clarity is power "! If I had known and practice this way earlier, I wouldn't have wasted so much time Best regards , Radu

[@sameer6076]

Thank 😊

[@eirinoulapapa5741]

Good afternoon from Greece Anne Marie! Your lessons are amazing and precious to me!You're an excellent English teacher! ~《1》If she hadn't lied to her husband,he would have trusted her more! ~《2》I would have been an English teacher if l had taken my proficiency exam earlier! ~《3》My pronunciation would have been fluent if l had attended Anne Marie's lessons! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you for such a lovely comment, Eirinoula! 😃 I'm so pleased my lessons are useful to you. And you've got some wonderful examples of using the third conditional here! Nicely done. One note: In your last example, we tend to use 'fluent' to describe overall spoken communication and the ability to communicate smoothly. Can you think of another way to describe pronunciation?

[@eirinoulapapa5741]

@@Speakconfidentenglish Thank you for replying to my comment Anne Marie! My mind went blank and I can't think of any word....I'm wondering if you could help me. I would appreciate it ❤❤❤

[@mariasafonova5915]

@@eirinoulapapa5741 i think you should use something like 'better' 😊😅

[@roxkoll9874]

Good morning teacher, can we use the modal verb "could" changing this phrase "if I had eaten fewer sweets I wouldn't be sick for a week" to "if I had eaten fewer sweets I could have felt better", in a nutshell my question is "the pattern of third conditional is strictly with "would" or we can use also "could"? Another example "She could have done it, if they had given her more time" thank-you very much for your help, I really like your teaching style!

[@ManishSharma-sk2zh]

Hi Annamarie, Amazing lesson. I appreciate your efforts and learned new thing. Thank you.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

My pleasure!

[@sudahsalman6171]

Thanks

[@gloriayin9585]

I wouldn't have spent one hour watering my garden this morning if I had known it would rain this afternoon,

[@saraybermeo4506]

If we had gone to bed early, my daughter would have gone to school today. Thank you.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Wonderful example! 👏

[@simba8173]

Hi From bangladesh 👋 you and your channel is my most favourite

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you so much 😀

[@ullahsultana2372]

If I had known about speaking a Confident English KZbin channel I believe I would have gotten a better job as expected. Thanks so much for sharing!!

[@7810]

If I had attended your classes earlier, my English would have been better.

[@user-ql7qj4dz7w]

Thank you for easy explanation of difficult things

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

You are welcome. I'm glad it was helpful.

[@shamimahmed1799]

This is a great way of learning by example. Thank you for presenting a good video...

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Glad you liked it!

[@Esther88881]

If I had known this earlier, my English would be better now

[@vipadakrom6477]

The way and the topic you teach are impressive and very useful to me.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thank you. Glad to hear that.

[@raphaeldavid54]

Thanks for your lesson!! Raphael (from Rio de Janeiro Brasil)

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

My pleasure!

[@fuhuatan4018]

If I had continued your lessons from the beginning,I would already have spoken English fluently right now

[@SidAndYuvi]

Nice video

[@vivianasooman9202]

If I don’t watch your video. I couldn’t know how to write this sentence so thanks for you

[@asadbekakbarov6447]

If I had studied more when I was younger, I would have been an expert

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Good example with the third conditional.

[@dbguat.1213]

I really loved the way you explained the third conditional as well as your simple examples. I am an online English teacher with students from different countries. Your explanations are universal and easy to understand. I will subscribe for sure, or l may find myself thinking...If l had watched videos from "Speak Confident English" before conducting this class, l would have done a much better job. Thank you!

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thanks so much for watching and subscribing, DBguat.! I appreciate it and am very glad to know you're enjoying my videos!

[@tushar2588]

Your teaching method is really amazing 🥰🥰🥰

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Thanks a lot 😊

[@tushar2588]

@@Speakconfidentenglish Welcome🥰🥰 Hey, can you make a video about using "to+Ving?" I mean, I'm confused about this structure so much. Not exactly sure when to use this structure. So if you make a tutorial on this topic mentioned above, I'll be grateful to you forever😊😊 Thank you so much for replying, mate!😊😊

[@gratienchesneau4393]

Hello ! First of all, thanks a lot for making such easy to understand videos, they're always very usefulI !!( maybe I should watch the one about "how to avoid using very all the time" ;) ).Anyway, I was wondering if it were still the same structure if use "if only" ar the beginning, and the negative form in the second clause.. ? For example :" If only you had taken this job last year, we wouldn't have all those issues with playing bills and stuff !" Is it a good use of the third conditional ?

[@anvika1945]

If I had watched your video earlier, I would have been learned English better.

[@abdelazizheddar5268]

Well explained thank'sa lot. I want to read more about English grammar, would you like to advice me on useful grammar books.

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Hi there. Grammar in Use is always a good series.

[@sharmilagoenkaanactressnau473]

Sharmila.. thanks for this video.I always use such sentences in my conversation but don’t know why n how we can use it exactly but by fluke only...one more thing please I want you to know how to use being..thank you n have a great day ahead ❤️

[@makiutsumi370]

Hi Annemarie :) Thank you for this lesson!! I have a question. I'm sorry if someone has already asked you this. Can I use the third conditional when I want to enjoy imagination or hypothetical situations in the past? For example, when I talk with my friends and ask each other, "what would you have studied if you hadn't studied English? With no regrets or criticizing. Thank you in advance!

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Yes, absolutely! That's a great question, Maki. English speakers love to use the third conditional for conversational questions like that, just for fun. 😊

[@makiutsumi370]

Speak Confident English Thank you so much❤️ I love conditionals even though I get stuck a lot. I'll do repetition practice!

[@bianayap]

If I had studied English consistently, I would have spoken english fluently.

[@engin7787]

If I known that she is such a trustful and diligent worker ,I wouldn't have hesitated to employ her my assistant. If I had known that the old age demands so much care ,I would have saved some money.

[@rachnajain8717]

If I had not missed this KZbin channel i would have saved myself from.many embarassing moments at workplace

[@thilakasirispathiranage9981]

Simply don't do say even think you should not have. Because no one can go back and fix the mistake. Have a blessed filled day!!!

[@MrAhmedKosba]

❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[@annachekmareva7872]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@qasirahmadqureshi5312]

If I had worked hard,I would have been working as a teacher today.. Is it correct mam

[@elshimaaelsayed8504]

Would you have stayed there if you had had much time? Is it correct?

[@zilolaabdurazzaqova1509]

If mom hadn't bought this plate for me,I would have taken that one I like.

[@user-ke6qj4ve4f]

If i had learned all about family business years ago i would have been an expert today

[@arturmanukyan2904]

❤🧡💛

[@sandram6358]

If I hadn´t run so much last weekend, my knee wouldn´t have been in pain

[@ayushjha7833]

If I had prepared enough I would have made it into one of the IITs

[@madurathnayake462]

I would have improved my English more if I had watched your channel before

[@weitinglouislouis1965]

If I had spent more time in preparation for the license, I would have been certified.

[@elshimaaelsayed8504]

What would you have done if you had known the truth?

[@Blah115]

This is way too complex for me. Okay, I can probably think about the sentence and write it down correctly, but to speak like this no way! My writing, reading and thinking in English is much better than speaking. Thanks for the video

[@thilakasirispathiranage9981]

If i had more time I would continue my project. If i were you I would respond differently.

[@rajmondagremi748]

If I had gone to bed earlier last night, I wouldn't have missed the train on time this morning.

[@user-nv5ny1bt4c]

I want to ask you about one sentence that I heard from the native speaker: If I was in that country, that could have been me. What type of conditional sentences is it? (it was about an accident that has happened in the USA.)

[@qasirahmadqureshi5312]

If I had got admission at university,I would have been professionals

[@jean-alainpynandee4668]

Hi Anne Marie'

[@FranciscoAssis-gb9xk]

I would have gotten the job, If I hadn´t been so nervous.

[@KristinGrady]

If I had studied French in school, I could have moved to France. But I didn't study French and didn't move to France. So sad.

[@littleone2023]

If I had gone there early, I wouldn’t have missed the train

[@ikramfarah-nezmerradi7277]

If i had more free time i could learn more and more english, if i had more free time i might manage my playing guitar . If my friend at work made a huge mistake, I could advise him how he can fix it, I would recommend him how to face the issue, and i might talk with our manager to help him

[@nilif5465]

If I had known this shirt wouldn’t fit me, I would have tried it on at the store

[@rachnajain8717]

If I had done a little work on my communication skills I would not be in this position at the workplace

[@Homo_sAPEien]

Can third conditional sentences be objectively true?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Can you clarify that a bit?

[@Homo_sAPEien]

@@Speakconfidentenglish Since saying ‘what would’ve happened if’ is talking about an imagined situation, doesn’t that mean that any sentence, phrased that way, is a matter of opinion?

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

All conditionals, including the third conditional, reflect on what might happen or what might have happened.

[@phonghoang6769]

If i had grown more Cacao tress, I could have produced more chocolate. If I had gone to Japan last year, I wouldn't have seen Olympic games.

[@vanessarodrigues5249]

If I had had opportunity in the past I would have lived in another country

[@rachnajain8717]

If I had not gone to pune I would not be working wi th cc

[@madurathnayake462]

If I had saved money I wouldn’t have been worried

[@ilgiardinonelcassetto4126]

Maybe if their father hadn't been so disturbed, he wouldn't has abandoned them!

[@twilight27jazz]

if i had learned english when i was young, i would have found a better job. i would have being skinny if i had eatean healty. if you had saved enogh money you would have bought your car since many years ago

[@elshimaaelsayed8504]

I wonder what would have happened if the year 2020 had disappeared .

[@Speakconfidentenglish]

Interesting question!

[@inainn1626]

Can we say if i did not married to him i would not have so much problems ,lol?