Review conditional prepositions
Conditional prepositions
Do you remember how to talk about things you “wish had or hadn’t happened” in the past? We use the “third conditional”.
Remember, the structure is: if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle
“If I had accepted” the blame for the team’s mistakes, I “would have looked like” an incompetent manager.
“If" we hadn’t laid” the blame on the system coding, the management “would have held” one of us responsible.
“If my colleagues hadn’t thrown” me under the bus, I “would have been” more willing to help them afterwards.
You can talk about past regrets or wishes in other ways. Let’s look at how we can use the word “without” to communicate these feelings.
“Without” the mistakes of the caterers, the event “would have been” a huge success.
“Without” thinking I was at fault for the team’s performance, I “would have enjoyed” working on the project.
I “would have given” a great presentation “without” the technical problems during the talk.
Let’s look at another phrase for expressing wishes or regrets: “if not for”.
“If not for” my colleagues throwing me under the bus, I “would have liked” my job.
“If not for” the constant distractions from my co-workers, I “would have been able to” correctly edit the report.
I “would have been” much more relaxed at work “if not for” being so hard on myself.
Now, let’s look at a more formal phrase you might not have seen before: “but for”.
“But for” the loud music during the conference, our clients “would have had” a great experience.
“But for” constantly being at each other’s throats, our department “would have completed” the project on time.
“But for” our poor performance on the project, we “would have gained” quite a few new clients.
Let’s review what you’ve learned...
As you remember, the third conditional describes past wishes or regrets, and describes the causes and effect of a situation.
“If” my colleagues “hadn’t thrown” me under the bus, I “would have been” more willing to help them afterwards.
We can describe these feelings using other phrases: “without”, “if not for”, and “but for”.
We still used the “would + have + past participle” structure to describe the effect.
“Without” the mistakes of the caterers, the event “would have been” a huge success.
“If not for” being so hard on myself, I “would have been” much more relaxed at work.
“But for” our poor performance on the project, we “would have gained” quite a few new clients.
I hope you found this review Conditional prepositions helpful...
Have a wonderful day!
2018年6月7日
