Use the third conditional to imagine a different past and its result: things that didn't happen. If I had known, I would have come. Form: if + Past Perfect, would have + past participle.
If I had known, I would have come.
The imagined path leaves the real one in the past and ends there. It's too late to change: the real path is what happened.
| The if-part | if + Past Perfect: If I had known |
|---|---|
| The result | would have + past participle: I would have come |
| Also in the result | could have, might have: I could have helped |
| Short forms | If I'd known, I'd have come. ('d is had in the if-part, would in the result) |
If I had studied more, I would have passed.
Imagining how the past could have gone better.
If we hadn't left early, we would have missed the flight.
Imagining how the past could have gone worse.
If you had told me, I could have helped.
Pointing out what someone should have done.
Common expressions worth learning as they are.
If I _____ about the meeting, I would have come.
From always true to an imagined past.
Paste an email or an essay. Clarigram marks the mistakes you actually make, shows the rule behind each one as a picture, and builds your practice from them.
No. Would have sounds like would've, which is why people write would of, but it's always would have.
Third when both the condition and the result are in the past (If I had left earlier, I would have caught the train). Mixed when the result is now (If I had left earlier, I would be there now).