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In this post we are going to look at one more kind of sentence which uses the word ‘if’ to talk about events in the past.

We have already learnt sentences like this :

• If you go into hospital, I will come and visit you. (real situation/likely to happen)
• If you went into hospital, I would come and visit you. (imaginary or unlikely situation)

Both of these sentences are talking about the future - the first one in a practical sense, and the second one in an imaginary sense. The sentence structure we are going to look at in this post is used to talk about the past.

• If I had known you were in hospital, I would have visited you.
• structure : If + 過去完了形, would + 現在完了形

What can we understand from that sentence? All of the following sentences are true :

• You were in hospital.
• I didn’t know you were in hospital.
• I didn’t visit you.

We use this structure to talk about things in the past that we cannot change. We are imagining something which did not happen.

• If Koizumi hadn’t gone to Yasukuni Shrine, relations with China and Korea wouldn’t have got so bad.

Maybe we regret that Koizumi went to Yasukuni shrine. It is too late to do anything about it, but we can still express our feelings about the situation.

regret - 後悔する

It is possible to reverse the order of the sentence, like this :

• Relations with China and Korea wouldn’t have got so bad if Koizumi hadn’t gone to Yasukuni shrine.

And, it’s also possible to shorten the auxiliary and modal verbs, like this:

• If I’d known you were in hospital, I’d've visited you.

Let’s try some exercises. First, put the verbs in the correct form in these sentences.

1. Luckily, he got to the station in time to catch his train. If ____ (he/miss) it, ____ (he/be) late for his interview.
2. Thanks for reminding me about Ken’s birthday. ____ (I/forget) if ____ (you/not/remind) me.
3. I took a taxi to the hotel but that traffic was terrible. ____ (it/be) quicker if ____ (I/walk).

Next, make a sentence with ‘if’ for each situation.

1. I didn’t get a taxi because I didn’t have any money on me.
2. You didn’t eat any breakfast - that’s why you got so hungry.
3. I wasn’t injured in the crash because I was wearing a seatbelt.
4. I didn’t know that you wanted a ticket, so I didn’t get you one.
5. You didn’t tell me you needed help, so I didn’t try to help you.

It is possible to ‘mix’ conditionals, especially when some past event has an effect on the present moment, as in the following example :

• If you had eaten some breakfast, you wouldn’t be hungry now.

Well, that’s enough about conditionals for now. In the next post we will be looking at sentences using ‘wish’ and ‘hope’.