Lesson 1A Vocabulary and Grammar — Mixed conditionals

• I can use mixed conditionals to talk about present effects of a hypothetical situation in the past.

Highs and lows: what makes a good tourist attraction?

What makes a good tourist attraction?

♩ 9.1 Listen to a radio programme about the Marble Arch Mound in England and the North Coast 500 in Scotland. Which was and wasn’t successful? Why?

♩ 9.1 Complete the sentences using the words in the box. Then listen again and check. More than one answer is possible.

People are always looking for new and ___ ideas for new attractions.

The Marble Arch Mound was an ___ idea to build a small hill in the centre of London.

The £6 million was a lot more ___ than the organisers thought it would be.

Perhaps more people would have wanted to climb it if they hadn’t had to ___ on an entrance fee.

They wanted to get tourists to visit an area that was not very ___.

The hotels, restaurant and shop owners have become more ___ because of the route.

Think back: four kinds of conditional

Match the conditional sentences 1–4 with their types a–d.

If you read the travel pages, you’ll probably hear about a new tourist attraction somewhere in the world.

If a tourist attraction is popular, it can be very good news for the organisers.

Perhaps more people would have wanted to climb it if they hadn’t had to splash out on an entrance fee.

If you drove the route, you would see castles, beaches and amazing mountains.

Mixed conditionals: the past reaches into the present

• If + Past Perfect, would(n’t) + infinitive
• We use this to talk about the present consequences of a hypothetical past situation: If I’d gone to university, I would have a better job.
• If + Past Simple, would(n’t) + perfect infinitive
• We use this to talk about the effects of a hypothetical present situation in the past: If she wasn’t clever, she wouldn’t have had such a good job.

Study sentences a–b which have the same meaning. Why are sentences a known as mixed conditionals? Check your answers in the Grammar box.

If they hadn’t made the North Coast 500, people would be poorer.

They made the North Coast 500, so people are not poorer.

If the organisers realised this, they would have done things differently, perhaps.

The organisers do not realise this, so they didn’t do things differently.

Practice: choose the right verb form

Choose the correct verb forms to complete the sentences.

If Issa isn’t / wasn’t afraid of snakes, he would have picked it up.

If he learnt/ had learnt to swim, he might be in the sea now.

I will / would be famous if I had taken that job.

If he fell / had fallen, he would be dead now.

If he looked / had looked at the map, he wouldn’t be lost.

Refugees’ long jump to success: conditionals in a real story

Read the article about refugees and use the verbs in brackets to complete the sentences with correct conditional structures.

If Uganda hadn’t helped (not help) so many people in need, it ___ (have) the most refugees of any African country.

If the Olympic Refuge Foundation _ (not help) people, the refugees _ (have) more mental health problems.

If the refugees _ (not be) top athletes, they _ (compete) for the Refugee Olympic Team.

If Amelio Castro _ (not lost) in Paris, he _ (get) a medal.

If some of the refugees _ (not have) a desire to help other people, they _ (not want) to become coaches.

The Grammar Reference: second, third and mixed

• Second conditional
• If + past, + would/might/could + infinitive to talk about an unlikely or imaginary situation in the present or future:
• If I were a professional sportsman, I’d probably be much richer now.
• Third conditional
• If + Past Perfect, + would/might/could have + perfect infinitive to talk about an imaginary situation in the past:
• If I hadn’t done all those things, I wouldn’t have done so well at university.