Reference · module 29
What might have been
Everything this module explains, on one page.
If I had known
Talk about a past that did not happen.
- If I had known, I would have called. Neither half happened: I did not know, and I did not call. The whole sentence is about a road not taken.
- The shape is fixed: if plus had plus the third form, then would have plus the third form. Six words of machinery and no exceptions.
- In speech it contracts hard: If I'd known, I'd have called. Both 'd are different words — the first is had and the second is would.
The mistake you are about to make
If I would have known, I would have called.
If I'd known, I'd have called.
Both halves are unreal, so would tries to mark both. English keeps would in the second half only; the if half takes had plus the third form.
Mixed conditionals
Connect a past cause to a present result.
- If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now. The cause is in the past and the result is in the present, so the halves do not match.
- The other direction also happens: If I were more organised, I wouldn't have missed the train. A present fact explaining a past event.
- Nothing new has to be learned. Each half keeps its own time, and the mixture is just the two halves not agreeing about when.
The mistake you are about to make
If I had studied medicine, I would have been a doctor now.
If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now.
The third conditional pattern pulls the second half along with it. The result is in the present, so it takes would be, with no have.
I wish I had
Say what you regret.
- I wish I had studied harder is regret about the past. One step further back than I wish I knew, which is about now.
- if only is the stronger twin: If only I had listened. It carries more feeling and takes exactly the same grammar.
- And I wish you would is a complaint about somebody else's habit: I wish you would stop doing that. It is never about yourself.
The mistake you are about to make
I wish I studied harder. (about the past)
I wish I had studied harder.
Regret about the past takes one more step back. I wish I studied is about now — about not studying at present.
should have, could have
Look back at a decision and judge it.
- should have plus the third form is criticism of a past decision: You should have told me. It says the right thing was not done.
- could have is a chance that existed and was not taken: I could have gone, but I stayed. No blame in it, only an alternative.
- In speech all three sound like should've, could've, would've — which is why so many people write should of. It is have, always.
The mistake you are about to make
You should of told me.
You should have told me.
Should've and should of sound identical, and native speakers write the wrong one too. The word is always have, and in writing it shows.