3rd conditionals

[cornishbird]

Hello to you all, am new to this site and desperatley hoping for some help! I am giving a lesson to a multilingual class on 3rd conditionals on Monday and was hoping someone - anyone!!- could please tell me what student problems I am likely to encounter.
Many thanks in advance with your help!

[MrPedantic]

Hello Cornishbird, welcome to UsingEnglish!

The two particular problems I've noticed with conditionals generally are:

1. A belief that every "if" statement must relate to one of the conditional types.

Thus if-statements where the condition is granted/accepted, rather than proposed, may cause problems, e.g.

a) If that was MrQ, we ought to leave. ("Why isn't it 'were'?")

2. Puzzlement over certain type 2/type 3 or type 3/type 2 structures, e.g.

b) If he were a little more astute, he wouldn't have made such a stupid mistake. ("Why isn't it 'had been'?")

c) If he hadn't made such a stupid mistake, he would be here with us today. ("Isn't that 'mixed' and therefore ungrammatical?")

Good luck!

MrP

[keineahnung]

hi, evryone!
I'm from Mexico and hope to learn a great deal here on this page, why sometimes when I wach videos i found phrasel verbs ending with down or up and when i look them in the dictionary i don't find the phrasel verb but the verb only

hope you answer me

[MrPedantic]

Hello KA, welcome to Using English!

Do you have any examples of the phrasal verbs you've heard in videos?

All the best,

MrP

[riverkid]

Hello to you all, am new to this site and desperatley hoping for some help! I am giving a lesson to a multilingual class on 3rd conditionals on Monday and was hoping someone - anyone!!- could please tell me what student problems I am likely to encounter.
Many thanks in advance with your help!

We had the same question/problem/dilemma come up some time ago from another teacher and I posted a long description of one example of how to teach third conditionals. I can't seem to locate it, CB, but I'll keep looking and maybe one of the moderators will help.

[riverkid]

Hello Cornishbird, welcome to UsingEnglish!
The two particular problems I've noticed with conditionals generally are:
1. A belief that every "if" statement must relate to one of the conditional types.
Thus if-statements where the condition is granted/accepted, rather than proposed, may cause problems, e.g.
a) If that was MrQ, we ought to leave. ("Why isn't it 'were'?")
2. Puzzlement over certain type 2/type 3 or type 3/type 2 structures, e.g.
b) If he were a little more astute, he wouldn't have made such a stupid mistake. ("Why isn't it 'had been'?")
c) If he hadn't made such a stupid mistake, he would be here with us today. ("Isn't that 'mixed' and therefore ungrammatical?")
Good luck!
MrP

Good points, Mr P, no, actually excellent points. This is especially damaging for ESLs who seem to get hung up on the three conditionals and don't realize that life works in between them so language must too.

[Humble]

Hi,
Yes, II and III mixed are sometimes a problem. I've seen some heated discussion on which is correct:
1. If I were you, I would have done the same.
2. If I had been you, I would have done the same.
My choice is #1.

[Harry Smith]

Hi,
Yes, II and III mixed are sometimes a problem. I've seen some heated discussion on which is correct:
1. If I were you, I would have done the same.
2. If I had been you, I would have done the same.
My choice is #1.

How about these sentences:
1. If I had been at the party I would have met a lot of new people.
2. If I were at the party I would have met a lot of people.
3. If I had been at the party I would meet a lot of people.
What is your choice?

[Humble]

A question for kids, Harry. #1 of course.

[Harry Smith]

I am very happy that kids in your area know all types of conditionals. Some teachers don't. By the way what else do kids in your area know about mixed conditionals?
Best wishes Harry Smith