Business
Senior 4 · English
Business
Lesson 3 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
Ask any business owner about their early years and two kinds of sentence come out. The first kind looks back at a past that cannot change: If I had kept records, the bank would have lent me money. The second kind sets a condition for the future: Unless you deliver on time, the school won't come back. The first is the third conditional, the language of regret, relief and lessons learned. The second uses unless, the language of rules and warnings. You heard both in Mrs Kantengwa's interview. This lesson shows how they work.
Written by Ganzaa for an imagined newspaper column. Eric and his business are imagined.
Lessons from a Hard Year, by Eric Ndayisaba, phone-repair technician
I opened my repair kiosk in 2020 with one table, two screwdrivers and a lot of confidence. In 2021 the secondary school next door asked for a quote to repair forty tablets. I needed a loan to buy the spare parts, so I went to the bank. The manager asked to see my records. I had none. If I had kept records, the bank would have lent me the money, and I might have won the contract. Instead, a competitor won it.
The next year a fire started in the shop next to mine. If I hadn't bought insurance a month earlier, I would have lost everything. That was the luckiest decision I ever made.
So here are my rules for young technicians. Unless you write down every sale, you won't know whether you are making a profit. A customer won't come back unless you fix the phone when you said you would. And never lend the shop's money to friends unless you are ready to lose it.
| If-clause | Result clause | Example |
|---|---|---|
| if + past perfect (had + past participle) | would have + past participle | If I had kept records, the bank would have lent me the money. |
| negative: hadn't + past participle | might have / could have + past participle (less certain / ability) | If I hadn't bought insurance, I would have lost everything. He might have won the contract. |
Meaning: both halves are imaginary. The third conditional talks about a past that did not happen, so each clause means the opposite in reality: If I had kept records = I did not keep records; the bank would have lent me the money = it did not.
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Regret | If I had saved earlier, I would have bought a second machine. |
| Relief | If I hadn't bought insurance, I would have lost everything. |
| Criticism | If you had checked the order, we wouldn't have lost the client. |
| Explaining a cause | If the roads hadn't flooded, the goods would have arrived on time. |
Contractions: 'd can mean had or would. In If I'd known, I'd have come, the first 'd is had (before a past participle) and the second is would (before have). In speech, would have often sounds like /ˈwʊdəv/; it is still written would have.
Going further: the mixed conditional. A past condition can have a present result: If I had kept records, I would be richer now.
Unless means if … not, or "except if". It is used mainly in the zero and first conditionals, for rules, warnings and conditions.
| With if … not | With unless |
|---|---|
| If you don't write down every sale, you won't know your profit. | Unless you write down every sale, you won't know your profit. |
| A customer won't come back if you don't fix the phone on time. | A customer won't come back unless you fix the phone on time. |
| The SACCO doesn't lend money if you don't have records. | The SACCO doesn't lend money unless you have records. |
Three rules: (1) after unless, use the present for the future, as after if: unless you will deliver; (2) the verb after unless is positive: unless you don't deliver; (3) unless cannot replace if … not when the meaning is "because … not": I'd be surprised if she didn't win cannot become "unless she won".
Worked example 1: from facts to a third conditional
Facts: Eric didn't have records. The bank didn't lend him money.
Worked example 2: rewriting a rule with unless
Rule: If a business doesn't register, it can't get a contract with a public school. (illustrative rule)
Warning
Tip
Third conditional = two "nots" in disguise. To check that you have used it correctly, say the real facts aloud with not: If I had saved, I would have bought a machine → "I did not save; I did not buy a machine." If both facts make sense, your sentence is right.
The third conditional, Grammar: Conditionals with Georgie, BBC Learning English (about 3½ minutes, 2025). Write down her examples, then say the real facts behind each one.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
Choose the correct third conditional.
