[Grammar] Conditional type 3

[ucef]

Hi,

If he had looked where he was going, he would not run over.

Is this sentence correct?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi,

If he had looked where he was going, he would not run over.

Is this sentence correct?

Thanks in advance.

No, it's not. Are you trying to say "If he had looked where he was going, he would not have fallen over."?

 

[milan2003_07]

bhaisahab has already given the correct answer, but I'd like to add something to his message. "If he had looked ..." indicates Third Conditional which is used to talk about an unreal situation in the past. This construction uses past perfect as can be seen above. In the second part of the sentence you use "would have + verb+ed" if you're still talking about a past situation. Hence the option given by bhaisahab. However sometimes we're talking about the past in the "if"-clause, but then switch to the present in the second part of the sentence. In this case you can use "would + Infinitive". For example:

"If Andres Iniesta hadn't scored his goal to Holland in the extra time, Spain would have had to take part in the penalty shootout" - both parts of this sentence are about the past.

"If Luis Aragones hadn't left the national team after EURO-2008, he would probably be the head coach of Spain now"

These sentences will help clarify my ideas.

 

[Mr_Ben]

"If Andres Iniesta hadn't scored his goal against Holland in the extra time, Spain would have had to take part in the penalty shootout" - both parts of this sentence are about the past.

"If Luis Aragones hadn't left the national team after EURO-2008, he would probably be the head coach of Spain now"

These sentences will help clarify my ideas.

This is an excellent point that many books omit when discussing conditionals: if + an unreal situation in the past can result in an unreal situation in the past or present/future as shown above.