Read a story, learn the grammar, and practise conditional clauses type 3 with sentences about English and Tudor history.
Read the story about Jay's adventure in London. Then answer the questions below.
"The Globe sounds cool," Jay said to Holly and the others as they walked along a dark little road. "I'm sure it was great fun: People walked around and shouted during the plays back then! And there were animals there too! How funny." Jay talked and talked and talked. But then he noticed he was talking to — nobody. Where were the others?! He had turned into another dark little road and he could only hear the sound of water. "I'm close to the river," he thought. "But I'm really stupid! If I hadn't talked so much, I'd have noticed that the others had gone somewhere else." Jay tried to turn back but found himself in another dark road. Now he was scared. "The others could have helped me if they hadn't turned off their phones," he thought.
Suddenly, he could hear a voice which was telling a scary story about a murder which had happened right here in this street! He moved towards the voice and found himself in a new tour group: the Victorian tour. What luck! The guide was talking about blood and crime and dirt and rats. He knew the Victorian period was interesting, but this interesting? Wow! He hadn't realised that people had lived like this — in London!
Of course, they would have lived in a better part of the city if they had had money. But there was probably much more action here. "I'd have missed these cool stories if I'd stayed with the others!" he thought. The guide suddenly said "Stop!" Everyone stopped and listened. Then, a man in Victorian clothes walked past them, slowly, like a ghost. He didn't make a sound. A moment later, a woman's voice came from one of the houses. She was screaming!
Then Jay saw that the 'ghost' had dropped something — his pipe? Jay ran forward and picked it up. "If I hadn't joined the wrong tour, I wouldn't have seen a man in Victorian clothes with a pipe," he thought. "And if I hadn't been so quick, I wouldn't have got a Victorian pipe for my calendar photo! Just wait till I tell the others — they'll never believe me!"
Match the two parts to make correct conditional type 3 sentences. Choose the correct letter (a–f) for each sentence.
We use type 3 conditionals to talk about imaginary situations in the past — things that didn't happen, and their imaginary results.
Example: "If I had studied harder, I would have passed the test." (But I didn't study, so I didn't pass.)
We can also use could have or might have instead of would have in the result clause.
| 1. | Men and boys wouldn't have had all the best roles | |
| 2. | If the Globe hadn't been built with wood, | |
| 3. | They could have used electric lights | |
| 4. | The Globe wouldn't have been so popular | |
| 5. | If the theatre had had a roof, | |
| 6. | If they hadn't had pictures of the old Globe, |
Imagine how things would have been different. Read each sentence and rewrite it as a conditional clause type 3.
Each sentence gives you a cause and an effect. You need to turn both into a type 3 conditional.
Original: The Celts worked in dark places, so it was difficult for them.
Type 3: If the Celts hadn't worked in dark places, it would have been easier for them.
Notice: the original verb becomes hadn't + past participle in the if-clause, and the result uses would have + past participle.
Finish these sentences to say how English would have been different. Choose the correct verb form for each gap — remember the type 3 conditional structure!
Each sentence has two gaps. One gap is in the if-clause (past perfect: had not + past participle) and one is in the result clause (would have / could have + past participle).
Example: If the Romans had not come to England, they would not have given it a new name.
1. If the Romans to England, they a new name to this country — Britain.
2. If the Romans for such a long time, their language the English language so much.
3. The Normans to England if William the Conqueror he had a right to be king of England.
4. The people in England so many of their English words if French so popular after the Normans had arrived.
5. If the people in the 16th century the theatre so much, Shakespeare so many plays.
6. Shakespeare so many new words if he so many plays and poems.
7. If English sailors so many countries, they new things and words with them back to England.
Imagine how things would have been. Put the verbs into the correct tenses to make sentences with conditional clauses type 3. Choose carefully — both gaps in each sentence must be correct!
1. If a Celtic king beautiful jewellery, it clear to others how important he was.
2. If the Romans baths, they Britain too cold for them.
3. If the Normans French, the English language .
4. If Henry VIII a son to be the next monarch, he six times.
5. If Elizabeth to know more about the world, she sailors to America.
6. If Queen Victoria for 64 years, she so many changes in the time she lived.
Write your own answers to these questions using conditional clauses type 3. Think about what you would have done in each situation — and explain why!
Use the type 3 structure in your answer:
If I had got up late this morning, I would have run to school / would have missed breakfast / wouldn't have had time to eat.
Try to write at least one full sentence for each question. You can also explain your thinking!
Think about important events in history. Write a chain of conditional sentences — each one follows on from the last. How long can you make your chain?
Start with a historical event, then imagine what would not have happened without it. The next sentence picks up from there!
Example chain:
A: If Christopher Columbus hadn't sailed west, he wouldn't have discovered America and the New World.
B: If Columbus hadn't discovered the New World, Francis Drake wouldn't have travelled there.
A: If Francis Drake hadn't travelled there …
You can write about any historical event — Tudor history, Roman Britain, World War II, the invention of the internet, anything you like!
Review your answers below, then send them to your teacher.
Click the button below to send your answers directly to your teacher.