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Mixed Conditionals

LESSON
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REVIEW
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ANSWER KEY
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Mixed Conditionals

Grammar Reference

Form Example
Type Apast perfect → would + base (now)If she had married him, she would be miserable now.
Type Bpast simple (now) → would have + PPIf I hadn't left early, I would be stuck in traffic.
Never "would" in ifif clause uses past or past perfect onlyIf he weren't so shy, he would have introduced himself.

Mixed Conditionals — Exercises

Type A or Type B?

Tap which type each sentence is.

  1. If we had switched to renewables sooner, our carbon footprint would be lower today.
    (A / B) 
  2. If he were more organised, he would have submitted the report on time.
    (B / A) 
  3. If she hadn't taken redundancy, she would still be working for the company.
    (A / B) 
  4. If automation weren't disrupting so many industries, governments would have acted differently.
    (B / A) 
  5. If biodiversity loss hadn't been ignored for decades, conservation would be far easier now.
    (A / B) 
  6. If she weren't so risk-averse, she would have launched her start-up years ago.
    (B / A) 

Complete the mixed conditionals

Use the verbs in brackets in the correct mixed conditional form.

  1. If the company (invest) in automation earlier, it (be) more competitive now.
  2. If she (not / be) so dedicated, she (not / get) that promotion last year.
  3. If governments (act) on climate change sooner, fossil fuels (not / dominate) today.
  4. If he (be) more entrepreneurial, he (start) his own business by now.
  5. If society (address) inequality earlier, communities (be) more cohesive today.
  6. If she (not / be) so resistant to change, she (embrace) digital technology long ago.

Key word transformation

Complete the second sentence so it has the same meaning. Use the word given.

  1. We didn't invest in renewables, so emissions are still high today. INVESTEDIf we ______ in renewables, emissions would be lower today.
  2. She is not ambitious, so she didn't apply for promotion. WEREIf she ______ more ambitious, she would have applied for promotion.
  3. He lost his job last year, so he's struggling financially now. LOSTIf he hadn't ______ his job, he wouldn't be struggling now.
  4. Data privacy laws are weak, so companies have shared user data freely for years. STRONGERIf data privacy laws were ______, companies would not have shared user data so freely.

Write your own mixed conditionals

  1. A company failed to diversify. Now it is struggling. (Type A)
  2. He lacks work ethic. He didn't get promoted last quarter. (Type B)

Exercise 5 — Production

  1. Write a mixed conditional about a past action with a present result.

Mixed Conditionals — Answer Key

Type A or Type B?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. A
  4. B
  5. A
  6. B

Complete the mixed conditionals

  1. had invested
  2. weren't
  3. had acted
  4. were
  5. had addressed
  6. weren't

Key word transformation

  1. had invested
  2. were
  3. lost
  4. stronger

Write your own mixed conditionals

  1. Sample answer: If the company had diversified, it wouldn't be struggling now.
  2. Sample answer: If he weren't so lazy, he would have got the promotion last quarter.

Exercise 5 — Production

  1. Open answer — graded automatically online; no single fixed model answer.