A sample from one of my story-driven grammar presentations. Follow Maya through the multiverse, then see how the grammar works. Keep clicking: some slides reveal more.
GRAMMAR MISSION · THIRD CONDITIONAL
The Multiverse
of You
If you had made one different choice, who would you have become?
GRAMMAR AND SPEAKING · B1+ AND UP
UNIVERSE A · NEW YORK CITY
Maya's ordinary Monday
It is 8:59 on Monday morning.
Maya is late for work. Again.
Then THIS opens in front of her.
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN UNIVERSES
She steps in.
One step. One different choice. A completely new timeline.
UNIVERSE 4,082 · SAME PLACE, SAME MONDAY
Here, the asteroid missed.
In our universe, an asteroid hit Earth and the dinosaurs died out.
If the asteroid hadn't hit Earth, the dinosaurs wouldn't have died out.
ONE MOMENT, TWO UNIVERSES
Meet Leo. He missed the bus.
UNIVERSE A · WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
Leo missed the bus.
He waited at the bus stop.
He met Sam, his best friend.
UNIVERSE B · WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN
Leo caught the bus.
He got to work on time.
He never met Sam.
If Leo hadn't missed the bus, he wouldn't have met Sam.
THE MULTIVERSE OF YOU
CHECK THE TIMELINE
Real, or another universe?
If Leo hadn't missed the bus, he wouldn't have met Sam.
Did Leo miss the bus?
Did he meet Sam?
Can he change it now?
YES
It really happened.
YES
That really happened too.
NO
The past is finished.
Third conditional = imagining a different past and its different result. Both parts are unreal.
THE MULTIVERSE OF YOU
You can't change
the past.
But you can visit every universe where it went differently. That is the third conditional.
THE PORTAL FORMULA
How to build the portal
PART 1 · THE DIFFERENT PAST
If + had + past participle
If I had studied,
PART 2 · THE DIFFERENT RESULT
would have + past participle
I would have passed.
| Positive | If she had left earlier, she would have caught the flight. |
| Negative | If she hadn't left late, she wouldn't have missed it. |
| Question | What would she have done if she had missed it? |
THE MULTIVERSE OF YOU
GLITCH ALERT
Three bugs to fix
GLITCH
FIXED
WHY
If I would have studied, …
If I had studied, …
No "would" in the if-part. Spanish helps here: si hubiera estudiado = if I had studied.
I would of passed.
I would have passed.
"would've" sounds like "would of", but we never write it that way.
If I had went, …
If I had gone, …
After "had" we need the past participle (third column), not the past simple.
THE MULTIVERSE OF YOU
UNIVERSE A · NORTH ATLANTIC, 14 APRIL 1912
11:40 p.m. Something is ahead.
The Titanic is sailing to New York. There is no moon tonight.
The lookouts see the iceberg too late, and the ship sinks.
What if they had seen it in time?
UNIVERSE 7,190 · NEW YORK, 17 APRIL 1912
Here, they saw it in time.
In our universe, the Titanic never arrived in New York.
If the Titanic hadn't hit the iceberg, it would have arrived in New York.
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