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Complete the Conditional
Student A

A. Read through the third conditional sentences (1 to 10) below and think about how you
could complete the gaps. Where there is a (+) the verb phrase is positive, and where there is
a (-) the verb phrase is negative. A contraction (e.g. wouldnt) counts as one word. Dont
write anything yet!

1. If I had studied harder, I ___________ ___________ ___________ the exam. (+)

2. If it ___________ ___________, we could have gone to the beach. (-)
3. I would have sent you a postcard if I ___________ ___________ your address. (+)
4. If I'd known it was going to be sunny, I ___________ ___________ ___________ my
sunglasses. (+)
5. He would have been on time for the interview if he ___________ ___________ the house
late. (-)
6. If I had paid more attention in class, I ___________ ___________ ___________ the
lesson. (+)
7. If we ___________ ___________ to the cinema, we would have seen Star Wars. (+)
8. We would have swum in the sea if there ___________ ___________ so many jellyfish. (-)
9. If you had saved your money, you ___________ ___________ ___________ a house. (+)
10. If I ___________ ___________ them, I would have invited them to the party. (+)

B. Read your first sentence to your partner. If its wrong, try again until he/she tells you it's
correct. Then write the correct answer in the sentence. Continue with sentences 2 to 10.

C. Now, listen to your partner say sentence A. If he/she says the exact words you have in
bold, tell him/her Thats right. If not, say Try again. Your partner must continue to guess
until he/she says the exact words. Then continue with the other sentences.

A. If I had not broken my leg, I would have taken part in the competition. (+)
B. If it had snowed, we could have gone skiing. (+)
C. If you had driven more carefully, you wouldnt have had an accident. (-)
D. She wouldn't have been tired if she had gone to bed earlier. (-)
E. If I had seen him at the meeting, I would have asked him. (+)
F. If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick. (-)
G. If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plane. (-)
H. Their teacher would have been sad if they hadnt passed their exam. (-)
I. If I had had more time, I would have gone to see him. (+)
J. If we had played a little better, we could have won the match. (+)
K. If you had asked me, I would have helped you. (+)

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Complete the Conditional
Student B

A. Read through the third conditional sentences (A to K) below and think about how you
could complete the gaps. Where there is a (+) the verb phrase is positive, and where there is
a (-) the verb phrase is negative. A contraction (e.g. wouldnt) counts as one word. Dont
write anything yet!

A. If I had not broken my leg, I ___________ ___________ ___________ part in the

competition. (+)
B. If it had snowed, we ___________ ___________ ___________ skiing. (+)
C. If you had driven more carefully, you ___________ ___________ ___________ an
accident. (-)
D. She ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ if she had gone to bed
earlier. (-)
E. If I ___________ ___________ him at the meeting, I would have asked him. (+)
F. If I hadn't eaten so much, I ___________ ___________ ___________ sick. (-)
G. If we had taken a taxi, we ___________ ___________ ___________ the plane. (-)
H. Their teacher would have been sad if they ___________ ___________ their exam. (-)
I. If I ___________ ___________ more time, I would have gone to see him. (+)
J. If we had played a little better, we ___________ ___________ ___________ the match. (+)
K. If you ___________ ___________ me, I would have helped you. (+)

B. Listen to your partner say sentence 1. If he/she says the exact words you have in bold,
tell him/her Thats right. If not, say Try again. Your partner must continue to guess until
he/she says the exact words. Then continue with the other sentences.

1. If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam. (+)

2. If it hadn't rained, we could have gone to the beach. (-)
3. I would have sent you a postcard if I had had your address. (+)
4. If I'd known it was going to be sunny, I would have brought my sunglasses. (+)
5. He would have been on time for the interview if he hadnt left the house late. (-)
6. If I had paid more attention in class, I would have understood the lesson. (+)
7. If we had gone to the cinema, we would have seen Star Wars. (+)
8. We would have swum in the sea if there hadnt been so many jellyfish. (-)
9. If you had saved your money, you could have bought a house. (+)
10. If I had seen them, I would have invited them to the party. (+)

C. Now, read your first sentence to your partner. If its wrong, try again until he/she tells you
it's correct. Then write the correct answer in the sentence. Continue with sentences B to K.

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Complete the Conditional
In this productive teaching activity, students practice the third conditional by completing
sentences with missing verb phrases.

Before class, make one copy of the two worksheets for each pair of students.

Procedure

Divide the students into pairs and distribute the worksheets.

Explain that the students are going to practice the third conditional by completing sentences
with missing verb phrases.

Tell the students to read through the ten sentences on their worksheet and think about how
they could complete the gaps.

Explain that a plus sign (+) at the end of the sentence means the verb phrase is positive,
and a minus sign (-) means the verb phrase is negative. Also, point out that a contraction
(e.g. wouldnt) counts as one word.

Remind the students that they should not write anything at this stage. They should only think
about how to complete the gaps.

When they are ready, Student A starts by saying sentence 1.

If Student A says the exact words Student B has in bold, Student B says Thats right, and
Student A writes their answer in the sentence.

If not, Student B says Try again. Student A must then continue to guess until he/she says
the exact words.

This continues until all the third conditional sentences have been completed.

Its then Student Bs turn to read their sentences to Student A.

Afterwards, have a class feedback session. Go through any problem areas with the
students. You might also want to ask the students which sentences express regret and
which express criticism.

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