Mixed Conditional Sentences and Exercises
Table of Contents
Conditionals Mixed Type
All conditional statements express what will happen as a result of that condition when a condition has happened. While constructing conditional sentences, we use two different sentences, the first of these sentences is the sentence that starts with if and we call the if clause, the other of these sentences is the main sentence. Since each of these two sentences has a unique verb, it is of great importance to know which tense to use in these sentences, to determine the meaning of the sentence, and to use the sentence appropriately.
There are cases where unreal conditional clauses are used in the same sentence, where the tense in the If clause and the tense in the main clause are not the same. These states are generally called Conditionals Mixed Type.
How to Use Conditional Mixed Type 1?
In this type, which is used to connect the past and the present and connects Type 3 and Type 2, the Past Perfect Tense is used in the if-clause, while the Modal Present Tense is used in the main clause. In this sentence, there is a past condition and a possible outcome of this condition that cannot be fulfilled in the present tense, so we can call this type the “Today to Past Type”.
If my boyfriend had called me, I would not talk to him right now because of my job but I would want to.
If Steven had hurried a little more, he would catch the plane that he has to be in.
If I had been born in Germany, I could speak Germany and I could travel in Europe without higher prices.
How to Use Conditional Mixed Type 2?
In Conditional Mixed Type 2, which is used to connect the present with the past, if-clause uses the Simple Past Tense, the main clause uses the Modal Perfect Tense. In the sentence in which the Simple Past Tense is used, the present tense is referred to, while in the Modal Perfect Tense this situation has a past tense result. We can generally call this type the “Past to Now Type”.
- If I were rich, I would have invested in some little companies and foreign currency.
- If Bella were trustful for him, Johnny would have married her.
- If I had enough money to live in my house, not my dorm, I would not (wouldn’t) have stayed in my dorm.
