In the past two High English grammar quizzes we looked at two aspects of conditional sentences where probable conditionals and hypothetical conditionals were used. In this quiz we look at another aspect of conditionals which is the impossible conditional.
Remember when you did not do well in your tests? You probably thought:
‘If I had revised, I would have done well in the tests.’
This sentence is an example of an impossible conditional sentence. We notice that we have speculated on a past event that has occurred and you can do nothing about it now - but you can speculate what would have happened if you had done things differently. The impossible conditional is also used when we want to express reproach or regret, as in this sentence: