Third conditional

THIRD CONDITIONAL

USAGE

We use Type 3 conditional to talk about something which did not happen in the past.

(Situation: The weather suddenly turned bad yesterday.) If we had gone out, we would have been caught in the heavy rain.

(= we did not go out so we were not caught in the heavy rain)

The third conditional is often used to express regret.

If I had invested in the company when I had the opportunity, I would have made a lot of money.

(= I didn’t invest in the company and I didn’t make a lot of money)

FORM

If - clause main clause (result clause)

Past Perfect would + have + past participle

For example 

If we had taken the earlier bus, we would not have been delayed. 

(= we didn’t take the earlier bus so we were delayed by that)

Note**

We can use might/could + have + past participle in the main clause.

If you had come earlier, you might have seen him.

If I had been told the time schedule, I could have stopped him from speaking.